One of the most highly addictive substances known is cocaine. The ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens of the brain switches on when cocaine is being used. These are the areas of the brain that chronicles reward and pleasure. A pleasurable event happens when dopamine is let loosed on the brain and connects to a receptor. The use of cocaine hinders the reuptake of dopamine. This causes the dopamine to accumulate in an area in the brain. This maintains the feeling of pleasure.
Drug addiction using cocaine generates an intense euphoria very quickly. This results to a personl with very high self-esteem, energetic, and the feeling of greatly accepted socially. Cocaine users claimed that they do not feel being drugged but rather they feel that they have become the person they always wanted. With high doses, cocaine use can lead to negative behaviors such as impulsivity, compulsivity, and a high level of anxiety. After the effect of the substance wears off, a sensation of fatigue and gloominess sets in. This is then followed by a great amount of sleep. There is a potent wanting for the substance as a psychological and physiological effect. Studies have shown that alcohol use and marijuana use are the starting point of cocaine addiction.
The effect of cocaine wears off very fast. This would make a cocaine user to take regular doses to maintain the effect of cocaine. This set-up is then followed by tolerance. Tolerance means the drug user would want larger dosage of cocaine to achieve the usual effects he experiences.
Before the 1970s, cocaine was very expensive. Only rich individuals were able to get hold of this drug. Then suddenly, cocaine’s price was reduced. Then , rich or poor was able to acquire any amount of cocaine. Currently, in the United States of America, about 11 percent of people have tried cocaine at least on one occasion in their lives. This quick reduction of cocaine’s cost lead to its pervasive use. Rich and poor have now way in in using cocaine. However, despite cocaine’s price reduction, the problem of increasing dosage is still money to pay. Most cocaine addicts are teenagers who don’t have a stable job. In order to buy cocaine, these teenagers resort to theft or prostitution. This is a kind of desperation that makes an individual take on very dangerous behaviors. According to recent studies, HIV is one of the highest percentage that these cocaine users have in common.
Cocaine addiction has two sets of symptoms. The first set is the so-called intoxication symptoms. Part of intoxication symptoms are the rapid beating of your heart, dilation of your pupils, nausea, your blood pressure increasing or decreasing, perspiration or chills, psychomotor agitation, vomiting, weight loss, chest pain, slowed breathing, muscular weakness, seizures, and changes in your behavior such as affective blunting, changes in sociability, anxiety, hypervigilance, impaired judgment, anger and interpersonal sensitivity. The second set is called withdrawal symptoms. What includes withdrawal symptoms? It includes withdrawal symptoms include.
It is a very dangerous situation when someone says he or she is in cocaine addiction. It doesn’t just affect the user but also the people around him or her. It is best to get in contact with the nearest treatment centers in your country to ensure the available options for recovery. This kind of drug addiction needs intensive and fast treatment. Who knows? The life you saved might be your own.
Cocaine drug addiction is very popular in the United States with statistics showing that 11% have tried it.