Many people who take cocaine consider themselves to be occasional, "social" users. But while the drug has instant energising properties, the high is short-lived. The user can find themselves chasing the high; using more and more to sustain the familiar euphoria associated with the drug.
Cocaine addiction creeps up on you. Most cocaine users believe that they're in control, but a habit forms and - before they know it - they can be spending thousands of pounds on the drug; chasing a high which rarely satisfies the physical addiction.
How Habit Forms
Cocaine abuse can be deadly. There's the risk of accidental overdose, although it's more likely to cause cumulative effects over time, such as heart problems, difficulty with sleep and associated psychotic behaviours, aggression, arrogance, and destructive behaviours.
Because habit can form subtly, it can be difficult to recognise the emergence of the problem.
The Signs of Cocaine Addiction
The signs of addiction are different for each person, but there are commonalities in the psychological, behavioural, and physical symptoms proven to be reliable indicators of addiction. The psychological symptoms include:
- Restlessness and irritability
- Impaired and poor decision-making
- Psychosis (often related to lack of sleep)
- Fleeting euphoria
- Mood swings and agitation
- Depression
- Rapid and/or irregular heart rate
- High blood pressure
- Dilation of the pupils
- High body temperature
- Persistent nosebleeds
- Heavy sweating
- Liver and kidney damage
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Breathing problems
- Insomnia
- Impulsive behaviours (with impaired judgement)
- Borrowing or stealing money
- Dishonesty
- Reckless and risky behaviour
- Excessive engagement with porn and prostitutes
What help is available?
Cocaine addiction leads to financial difficulties, strain on personal relationships and friendships, and life-threatening health conditions such as heart-, kidney- and liver failure, and a collapse of the nasal septum.
Like all addictions, there are several approaches to treating cocaine use. We recognise that there's no one-size-fits-all approach that works for everyone, which is why we adopt an integrative approach. We focus on the root causes of a person's addiction, such as repressed emotional distress and family-related trauma.
“I must also have a dark side if I am to be whole.”
Carl Gustav Jung
Our Integrative Approach
Through a range of effective therapeutic strategies, we address the impact the addiction has on a person's entire life. We aim to overcome the triggers that can easily send an individual along self-destructive paths and back into addictive behaviours.
We explore the inevitable depression and anxiety that accompanies cocaine dependency, and we help our clients develop a range of coping strategies that prevent reverting to the addiction as soon as things get tough. We create a comprehensive treatment plan that helps access the root of a problem; only then can somebody understand their addiction and control it.
A Combination of Therapies Designed For You
We use a range of psychotherapeutic, counselling, and coaching strategies to build a combination of therapies that help give insight into the behaviours behind your addiction.
Together, we form a range of coping strategies to address the triggers that lead to a loss of self-control.
By recognising and acknowledging your traumas and anxieties, you'll begin to recognise the emotional states that have been buried and numbed by your drug use. And - by accepting your feelings with our help - you can emerge from the perilous state of addiction.
Get in touch
For help with overcoming an addcition to cocaine you can reach us by phone on 0333 339 2430 at any time, or contact us by email to discuss any questions about addiction recovery therapy.
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