The Dark Side Of Cocaine: Exploring Addiction Pattern

Cocaine is a powerful and enticing drug that can devastate lives. Some see it as a way to escape problems and feel happy and confident, but they don’t realize it can bring serious consequences.

Everyone should grasp the severity of the negative consequences and addiction patterns of cocaine. After all, this drug can quickly grip anyone’s life with disastrous outcomes, as it’s fair to say that cocaine addiction is akin to a chronic brain disease that keeps coming back.

Unfortunately, cocaine addiction isn’t something someone can just stop on their own. If they try, it can take a long time and a lot of effort to conquer.

If you or someone you know is struggling with cocaine addiction, you’re not alone. Many people have been there and made it through. So if you’re searching for a way out for yourself or others, you might want to learn more about the dark side of cocaine and its addictive patterns.

The Addiction Patterns Of A Cocaine Addict

Addicts often show simple signs and behaviors if they’re hooked on something. These signs are called addiction patterns. To know if someone is addicted, you need to be aware of these patterns and get that person rehabilitated in centers like jacksonhouserehab.com and other organizations.

Here are some common addiction patterns:

• Frequent and intense usage: Cocaine addiction usually starts with frantic and increasing drug use. Cocaine is a highly addictive drug, so it can quickly change the brain’s chemistry and make people need to use it more often to get the same high.
• Habitual binge-and-crash sessions: When frequent and intense usage becomes the norm, addicts can shift into using cocaine in binges. Basically, they take large amounts of cocaine over a short period of time, which can lead to several health concerns. Some of which are paranoia, hallucinations, and seizures. After the binge, the addict will crash and may feel depressed, fatigued, and anxious.
• Increased drug tolerance: As they continue to up their intake through binge-and-crash cycles, cocaine addicts develop tolerance to the drug. This tolerance pushes them to take more cocaine to get the high they’re chasing. And this ultimately often leads to financial problems, as the addict needs to spend more and more money on the drug.
• Noticeable changes in lifestyle and routine: As addiction progresses, cocaine severely affects every aspect of a person’s life. It can interfere with work, school, relationships, and other important areas in their life, leading to more problems in the future.
• Prominent suffering from consequences: Eventually, the disruptions to the addict’s life can become so severe that they start to experience serious negative repercussions, such as financial, legal, and health problems. At this point, they can’t deny that they’re addicted and need help to get off cocaine.
• Recurrent withdrawal symptoms: The cravings intensify, and being unable to use some cocaine can push them to experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms are very unpleasant and can also make it difficult and feel impossible for an addict to quit. At this stage, they use cocaine as ‘the cure’ for their symptoms, which only puts them in a neverending addiction limbo.

While these patterns can be considered common knowledge, people who are addicted often can’t see themselves following these behavioral patterns. Additionally, people close to addicts may get into a perpetual cycle of denial about the addiction.

If you see someone displaying signs of these patterns, take action and help them. The first step is understanding where the addiction began, which will be discussed in the following sections.

The Way Cocaine Addiction Begins

Most addictions—just like the most common addictions in the US—start with a person’s first encounter with a substance. That’s not always the case, but that’s how the story often goes.

However, cocaine is different—it has that powerful grip right from the start through its massive burst of dopamine. As a person ingest it, the brain gets flooded with the reward pathway chemical, and it causes intense feelings of happiness and pleasure.

Just picture someone feeling down and out. Out of nowhere, they’re suddenly filled with joy and bliss after using a little bit of cocaine. With that immense ‘positive’ experience, it would be difficult for that person to resist chasing that feeling again.

Unfortunately, human brains are adaptable. So, when someone uses cocaine again, they may not experience the same high as before. To fix that, they might need to increase their dosage.

And that cycle happens repeatedly until the person gets into the addiction pattern. They’re gone, not entirely, but they’re already addicted. The person becomes driven to seek the drug compulsively, disregarding the consequences to their health and well-being.

Now that you know how cocaine addiction and the patterns may start, you can now proceed to know why precisely some people are defenseless against cocaine and addiction itself.

The Risk Factors Of Developing Cocaine Addiction

Fortunately, a few individuals can resist the allure of cocaine, but they’re rare. Why is that? It’s because various factors can heighten anyone’s vulnerability to cocaine addiction—and these factors have become very, very common nowadays. Here are a few examples:

• Genetics and environment: Some people have a higher chance of becoming addicted to drugs due to their genetic makeup and the environment they grow up in. For instance, being raised in a home where drug use is common or having a family history of mental illness and diseases can increase the risk of addiction.
• Mental health problems and trauma: Individuals dealing with mental health issues like ADHD, depression, or anxiety are more susceptible to drug addiction. Similarly, those who have experienced traumatic events such as abuse or neglect are at a higher risk as well.
• Age and personality traits: Impulsive individuals with low self-esteem or a history of engaging in risky behaviors are more prone to drug addiction. Sadly, these traits often manifest in young people, and those who start using drugs at a very young age are more likely to develop an addiction than those who begin later in life.
• Peer pressure and easy drug access: People who surround themselves with friends who use drugs are more inclined to do the same. Moreover, obtaining drugs becomes easier if someone’s social circle consists of drug users.

While these factors can heighten the risk of developing cocaine addiction, note that not everyone with these risk factors will inevitably become addicted. However, these factors can exacerbate the addiction once it takes hold.

In some cases, addressing and eliminating these factors can assist in halting a person’s addiction. For instance, removing an addict from an environment saturated with drugs can greatly assist in reducing their drug intake.

Nonetheless, there are other factors, such as genetics and age, that cannot be altered or controlled. In such cases, alternative approaches must be explored to facilitate the rehabilitation process.

Of course, not all cocaine addicts are lost causes. Some of them may understand the situation they’re in, and when they start to think about their future, they act. The problem is they often fail. The reasons are discussed in the next section.

The Reasons Attempts To Quit Fail

Certainly, there comes a moment when an addict realizes their addiction, likely while grappling with the repercussions. Perhaps a loved one or friend has intervened and has urged them to quit. So they decide to give it a try.

However, as previously mentioned, cocaine is one of the toughest substances to overcome, especially when attempting it alone. Consequently, these attempts often result in failure. You need to understand why it happens, as their failed attempts often make them think there’s no hope and might use it as an excuse to reject help.

Below are some of the most common reasons:

• Withdrawal symptoms: Cocaine withdrawal is a very strong driving force in stopping addicts from quitting.
• Cravings: The desire for cocaine can be overpowering. Together with the withdrawal symptoms, it’s easy to make an addict give up trying to quit.
• Lack of support: Often, individuals who aim to quit cocaine without help lack the necessary assistance to succeed. They may have no one to confide in about their addiction and may not have access to treatment options.
• Relapse: Even those who have successfully quit cocaine for a period of time remain prone to relapse. Various factors—stress, peer pressure, or simply forgetting the negative consequences of cocaine—can make a quitter an addict again.

These are just a few common reasons quitting cocaine can be incredibly challenging. Understanding these hurdles can help us better comprehend individuals’ difficulties on their recovery journey.

Conclusion

Cocaine addiction is a serious problem, and its associated risks are real. It can take over your life and lead to bad things. But there’s always hope for everyone, as many people recover from cocaine addiction.

Once an addict shows any of the addiction patterns, everyone should get involved and try to help. Also, make it always a point that there’s no shame in getting help. Of course, don’t do it haphazardly. Understand first all the whys and hows they’ve fallen into this dire situation.

Lastly, be sure to get assistance from all the organizations you can reach. Some of them are the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), National Institute on Health (NIH), and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—note that NIDA is under the NIH. There are also hotlines and support groups you can call if you need more help.