My Cocaine Addiction Only Affects Me, Not Anyone Else

It is easy to convince yourself that your addiction doesn’t hurt anyone else, but believing this ignores the people that your addiction hurts the most. Cocaine addiction affects everyone associated with it or close to it. Your cocaine addiction causes rifts between you and your loved ones and affects people in other areas of your life as well. Cocaine addiction is not a problem that only concerns you. Cocaine Addiction Hurts Everyone Cocaine addiction takes a toll on your relationships at...

Am I Powerless Over Cocaine Addiction?

No matter how strong the dependency or how long it has taken hold, there is no addiction that you cannot overcome. As much as that is a fact, it’s also true that a stubborn addiction can make a person feel hopeless and powerless against it. This is often the case with those who abuse cocaine. Many people have failed to quit on their own, and the taste of battling addiction made them feel powerless to break free. These feelings, however, largely stem from the misconception that willpower...

Cocaine Tolerance and Abuse

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is illegal in the United States. It can be crushed and snorted, injected or smoked. Cocaine was used for medical purposes including as an anesthetic for ear, nose and throat surgeries and for stopping nosebleeds, but in terms of medical use the cons outweigh the pros. Cocaine is typically used recreationally to receive a high, reduce hunger and sleepiness and increase energy and excitement. Cocaine Tolerance, Dependence and Addiction We may think of drug...

How Does Cocaine Addiction Denial End?

Most of us deny any action we believe is wrong, especially in the early stages of the problem. Our denial stems from a defense mechanism that is unconscious and it is at times necessary for us. However, when it comes to denial in addiction cases, it can be a serious hurdle to recovery and could lead to dangerous consequences. Why People Deny Cocaine Addiction Why do people addicted to cocaine deny that they need help? One possible reason is that nobody likes to feel helpless or out of control....

How Cocaine Abuse Affects the Brain

Cocaine is a stimulant that works by making changes to the central nervous system. The brain is the command center of the central nervous system, and cocaine abuse affects the brain directly and dramatically. How Cocaine Addiction Starts Every addictive substance will cause tolerance and dependence. Because of cocaine’s potency the time it takes to reach these stages in the addiction process is typically much less than that of other drugs. Tolerance is when you need more cocaine to produce...

What Cocaine Addiction Does to a Person

Almost everyone is familiar with cocaine. It may seem like cocaine is available everywhere you look, but it is important to know how cocaine can affect your life. If you or someone you love is struggling with cocaine use, we would like to help. How You Use Cocaine Determines How It Damages Your Body There are different ways to use cocaine, and those different ways impact your body differently. Cocaine is most commonly found in a powdered form which is snorted through the nose. Crack cocaine is...

Isolation and Cocaine Abuse

Cocaine is often viewed as a social drug used to get high with friends and continue partying for long hours. However cocaine abuse often leads to isolation. Though one is social and the other chemical, isolation and cocaine have synergistic effects in which each makes the other worse. Each condition can lead to the other, and people driven to cocaine abuse by isolation are just as common as those driven to isolation through cocaine. The following are ways in which isolation can lead to cocaine...

How to Overcome Cocaine Cravings

Cocaine, obtained from the leaves of the coca plant, is a highly addictive stimulant drug. Cocaine can be smoked, snorted or dissolved in water and injected. Cocaine increases a user’s energy and mental alertness but is a dangerous substance that may lead to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack or stroke. Among recovering cocaine addicts, common causes of relapse are drug cravings. Cocaine withdrawal leads to powerful psychological cravings. Physical withdrawal causes a...

How Culture Influences Cocaine Abuse

Cocaine is a stimulant that provides a person with a false sense of empowerment and energy. Unfortunately each time a person consumes cocaine they are putting their life on the line, because no one can tell which dose could be the last. Since your body can become tolerant to a certain amount of cocaine, users often increase their dosage in an attempt to regain the intense feelings they originally experienced. This brings users closer to an overdose and increases the negative effects of the...

What Happens When Cocaine Addicts Don’t Get Treatment?

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. Cocaine abuse quickly grows into a debilitating addiction that only becomes more serious over time. Cocaine addiction, if left untreated, has powerful negative effects on the human body. Cocaine users face any or all of the following medical risks: Heart disease Respiratory failure Strokes Seizures Fatality Constricted blood vessels Hypertension Nasal cavity damage Sudden rapid weight loss Significantly shorter...

How Dangerous Is Cocaine Abuse?

Derived from the leaves of the coca bush found in the highlands of South America, cocaine is a potent central nervous system stimulant that gives the user a feeling of heightened awareness, invulnerability, confidence and energy, but it speeds heart and respiratory rates to potentially deadly levels. Users experience powerful psychological addictions quickly, as the drug hyper-stimulates the “reward center” of the brain. Though users will not suffer physical withdrawal symptoms such as...

Secret Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine can initially seem to provide pleasure and relief but quickly becomes dangerous. Cocaine abuse is a  problem that affects people of all ages. A 2008 study by the National Institute for Drug Abuse found that 4.4% of 12th graders had abused cocaine. In the same year, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, there were more than 118,000 hospital emergency room visits related to drug use by adults over age 50, and cocaine was the most common drug involved. Signs of Cocaine...

How to Approach a Cocaine Addict

In 2008, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 5.3 million Americans age 12 or older had used cocaine in some form, and 1.1 million had used crack at least once in the previous year. Aside from being extremely addictive, cocaine is also illegal and associated with criminal activity. If someone close to you is addicted to cocaine, it is important that you act. It can be hard to know what to do, what to say and how to say it. The following information can help you approach a...

4 Causes of Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine is an extremely addictive narcotic that stimulates the nervous system. Cocaine gives users increased energy and an immediate euphoria. Cocaine is an illegal substance but is still widely abused. It was most popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but while use of cocaine has decreased slightly in recent years, it is still a significant problem. Possible Causes of Cocaine Addiction What causes individuals to become addicted to a drug? Drug addictions are more complex than they appear to be on...

How Cocaine Abuse Affects Families

Cocaine abuse destroys people’s lives. It affects not only the lives of users but also inflicts much emotional and psychological pain on friends and family members. What Families Can’t Do: End Cocaine Abuse for a Loved One The family members of a cocaine user suffer emotionally as they watch someone they love sink further and further into abuse and addiction. Often loved ones will feel conflicted with how to best help the addict. Worry for the safety of the addict may drive loved ones to...