What’s wrong with a few snorts of cocaine? It gives you energy, a high, and allows for a good time – or does it? Is cocaine addictive? How does it trap its users into coming back for more?
Understanding the Difference between Physical and Psychological Addiction
Is cocaine addictive? In fact, the drug is highly addictive. Some physicians exchange the term addictive with rewarding. This highlights the fact that the dependency on the drug is more psychological.
Take, for example, heroin. The drug hooks its users with a rapid high. It keeps users coming back because its physical withdrawal symptoms are brutal. Cocaine is different.
Cocaine detox center therapists routinely work with people who believe they need the drug to perform. When they don’t take it, they feel tired, irritable, and depressed. As soon as they have cocaine in their systems, they’re back on top of the world for a brief time. You quickly get into a vicious cycle of bingeing and waiting to use.
Is Cocaine Addictive Right Away?
It’s possible for the drug to hook you after your first use. Consider that it leads to a dopamine glut. This results in feelings of intense wellbeing. You want to repeat the sensation as soon as possible.
Therefore, you take more of the drug when the results wear off. It’s not unusual for people to spend hours doing cocaine. Eventually, snorting the drug isn’t the only method of taking it. You begin experimenting with other ways of introducing the chemicals into your body.
You’re after the dopamine glut. However, this one is more and more elusive. As a result, you keep taking progressively larger doses. Is cocaine addictive? Its results certainly are; from there, you spend your time chasing the initial high.
Overcoming Dependency on Cocaine
Addiction’s a disease that responds well to treatment. Therapists at facilities work with you to develop customized care protocols. Examples of procedures at good-quality drug alcohol detox programs Houston trusts include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy that empowers you to create functional coping mechanisms when thoughts and feelings are dysfunctional
- Family counseling as a tool for communicating openly and honestly to develop trust and support
- Trauma treatment that helps you process disturbing memories and emotions you never dealt with properly
- 12 Step program participation for the development of peer accountability
- Yoga therapy as a method for relaxation and mindfulness training that helps you ground yourself in the present
Reaching out for Help
Most people won’t be able to overcome an addiction on their own. They try so hard to limit their daily drug intake. They consistently set boundaries and limits that they then ignore. This contributes to frustration, anger, and hopelessness.
This doesn’t have to describe your recovery efforts. Is cocaine addictive? By now, you probably know that it hooked you. However, therapists at Serenity Light Recovery can help you deal with the problem; call (281) 431-6700 now.
As our CEO, Heather’s main calling is to stay true to the vision of the organization, which is saving lives and striving to redefine statistics by raising the standard of care with evolving treatment methods. Heather studied psychology at LSU and both the main and Clear Lake campuses of the University of Houston, and she is a certified IASIS provider and CPI instructor. She’s been helping people in recovery since 2011. Heather’s motto to live by is “I am not what I’ve done; I am what I’ve overcome.”
