Cocaine Addiction And Recovery Options
Getting clean means an addict has learned how to stop using drugs and integrate sobriety into everyday life. Both detoxification of the patient and having the patient remain drug-free are what cocaine addiction treatment centers promise to deliver.
The term detoxification means to rid oneself of dangerous toxins from the inside out. If one is heavily addicted to cocaine, abrupt and sudden cessation of the drug use will commonly result in profound interference with the person’s central nervous system. The result is what physicians refer to as cocaine withdrawal syndrome.
Types of cocaine abuse
In the past, cocaine was the drug of choice among upwardly mobile young professionals but lost favor among this crowd when the drug’s genuinely addictive and destructive qualities fully surfaced.
Cocaine and its derivative concentrate, crack cocaine, are highly addictive substances, come in many forms, and go by many names. These names include rock, crystal, flake, snow, and blow.
Cocaine acts on the brain by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The reuptake results in a stream of serotonin and dopamine within the brain and produces the state of cocaine euphoria.
Cocaine can be smoked, inhaled, and injected directly into the bloodstream, but the most common drug intake is sniffed through the nose. Common signs of cocaine withdrawal include insomnia, depression, stress, panic and confusion, burnout, and severe anxiety.
Cocaine Addiction Recovery Centers
Cocaine addiction has both mental and physical components. Therefore, detoxification from cocaine is much more problematic and dangerous than other drugs. Consequently, it becomes necessary to design a therapeutic strategy during the patient’s stay with the center so that the patient will continue their treatment on an outpatient basis.
Cocaine recovery and detoxification centers provide inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs. Residential treatment programs have been highly influential in establishing a controlled environment as the patient undergoes detoxification, recovery, re-education, and normalization.
The average cost of inpatient treatment can run as high as $5,000/week. Most health insurance companies do not cover treatment for cocaine addiction. Some private detox centers have financing available or will be able to put you in contact with an available lender.
Most cocaine detox programs are residential or part of an extended outpatient treatment and recovery facility. In either case, you will want to ensure the local program you choose is operated by state-accredited, licensed, and professionally trained mental health professionals.
Crack and rock cocaine
Crack is chemically extracted from cocaine and then mixed and heated with baking soda, which turns into pasty white rocks. The concentration of these elements makes crack cocaine one of the most dangerous and highly addictive drugs available. Once hooked, getting off the drug is extremely challenging.
Crack cocaine can be as addictive as heroin and often fatal, depending on the dosage. A dose is expected to produce a lethal result somewhere between the range of 700 and 800 mg. People die of associated heart failure, but excessive amounts of cocaine have also been known to cause a stroke.
New Approaches to Treatment and Recovery
Over the past few years, there have been significant strides in detoxification programs and therapies for people addicted to cocaine.
Most of these therapies are biochemical and claim to repress the neural interactions within the brain that cause addictive and impulsive cravings. Some of these services claim they can reach complete detoxification and make someone addicted accessible in a matter of days rather than weeks or months.
For more information on addiction and treatment centers, consider contacting American Addiction Centers.
