Crack-Cocaine Addiction & Abuse

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What Is Crack-Cocaine Addiction?

Crack cocaine use results in a high level of psychological addiction, causing an overwhelming cycle that you may struggle to find your way out of. The euphoric feelings that the drug induces outweigh the negative consequences that may seem so obvious to other people. The short highs the drug causes lead to compulsive use and addiction follows crack abuse very quickly. The long-term dangers of crack are destructive to your physical and mental health and mustering the courage to ask for help can help you to avoid permanent damage. We commend you for your bravery and encourage you to reach out for professional intervention.

Crack-Cocaine Addiction Symptoms

If you develop a crack cocaine addiction you might notice changes to your physical health and mental wellbeing. Changes in sleep patterns are common because once the crack wears off, the energy burst turns into exhaustion. Appetite loss leading to weight loss is also common. Your oral health is likely to suffer and you might experience bleeding gums, tooth decay, and bleeding from your mouth.

When you have an addiction and try to stop using rocks, you may experience crack cocaine withdrawal symptoms like fever, diarrhea, muscular pain, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression.

A crack cocaine problem also has psycho-emotional effects that include obsessive thinking about the drug, lying, or stealing, as well as a change in your lifestyle and social activities. If you suspect someone close to you has an addiction you might notice drug paraphernalia like lightbulbs, glass bottles, and asthma pumps around.

Defining Crack-Cocaine

Crack is the freebase form of cocaine that is smoked. Also known as rocks, it is the most addictive form of cocaine and smoking it causes short intense highs.

Crack is sold as rocks

Crack crystals or rocks vary in size, shape, and color, and can be produced in a home microwave. The rocks range from white to off-white and produce intense euphoria when they are smoked. They are relatively inexpensive compared to powder cocaine.

Quick onset of effects

Just one or two hits of crack cocaine could be enough to start an addiction because of the flood of dopamine it causes. Smoking rocks can induce a high in 20 seconds and can last for 30 minutes. The ease with which a crack pipe can be refilled, compared to refilling a syringe, contributes to repeated use.

High level of psychological addiction

The short and intense highs result in strong psychological addiction that is experienced by overwhelming cravings. The euphoric effects override any negative physical effects you experience, escalating rapidly to addiction.

The Dangers of Crack-Cocaine Addiction

Abusing crack cocaine causes a wide range of dangerous and serious side effects to your mental and physical health. Organ damage to your kidneys and lungs is common and it can worsen respiratory diseases. Crack causes heart problems like hypertension, irregular heartbeat, and heart attack. The effects of malnutrition affect all parts of your body including muscular breakdown. Prolonged use damages your skin and teeth and can cause abscesses.

Using crack cocaine puts you at risk of coma, seizure, and death. Getting professional help to quit can safeguard you against its progressively destructive consequences and protect your vital organs from further damage.

What Is the Difference between Crack-Cocaine Addiction and Abuse?

Abusing a substance means that you use it recreationally, however, because of crack’s high potential for abuse controlling your use of it is very difficult. Abusing crack just a few times leads to addiction very quickly, to the point where you can’t stop thinking about it. Developing a physical addiction causes your tolerance to increase, so you need to use more of it to achieve the state of blissful euphoria you felt the first time.

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How Crack-Cocaine Affects Us

The way that crack cocaine affects you depends on personal factors like your gender, age, weight, and metabolism. Your genetics determine how you metabolize crack and the specific effects it will have on your body and mind.

Physiological effects

In the short term, crack use speeds up your brain activity causing high blood pressure and increased heart rate, which elevates your chances of heart attack and stroke. It also causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It makes your pupils dilate and causes difficulty speaking. Some people also get an uncomfortable sensation of bugs crawling under their skin. Long-term use causes vital organ failure, affecting your lungs, kidneys, and heart. It can also result in reproductive failure.

Psychological effects

Smoking rocks results in a rush or high that is short-lived, causing an immediate craving for more after the euphoria has subsided. Some people feel very alert, which translates into anxiety and restlessness for others. It can make you more aggressive and some people have psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and paranoia. It interferes with your sleep patterns, causing insomnia and unpleasant dreams. It takes its toll on your mental health and is associated with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. It has a strong association with violent behavior.

Crime-related statistics

Crack has a higher association with violence than powder cocaine. Law enforcement states that it is not necessarily a cause of criminal behaviors but rather intensifies behaviors that people were already involved in. Crack cocaine crimes have a strong association with the use of weapons. In a study carried out by the Department of Justice, a third of women surveyed started prostitution after crack use.

The pattern of crack use, namely short highs requiring more frequent and personal interactions, is believed to contribute to aggressive exchanges and incidences of violent behaviors.

How Does Cocaine Addiction Affect My Family?

Crack cocaine has devastating effects on family members. It is incredibly difficult for other family members to see someone they love and care about fall into a crack addiction. The physical symptoms are very apparent and the behavioral changes that you go through affect everyone around you, even if you try to deny the existence of the problem.

The intense and overwhelming cravings for rocks may result in lying or stealing to continue your habit, affecting your family’s financial and material security. Because of its association with violence, members of your family may be exposed to heightened stress and trauma as you struggle with your addiction.

Children of parents who have crack addictions are likely to experience neglect and abuse on all levels. Their sense of stability is upended and the likelihood of children developing an addiction to crack or other substances is very high.

Crack-Cocaine Overdose

A crack overdose can occur immediately after using the drug but there are reports of overdoses happening one to two hours after the last hit. Overdose can result in seizures, coma, and death. Please call 911 immediately if you think someone is experiencing an overdose. The person overdosing may be at risk of self-harm. Bystanders and emergency responders may be at risk of assault and violence.

The signs of an overdose vary between users and can range from confusion and paranoid delusions to labored breathing, chest pains, loss of consciousness, heart attack, and stroke. Relapse is a real threat to overdose because of lower tolerance, which is why supervised detox and recovery are recommended.

About Our Crack-Cocaine Addiction Treatment Center

Our luxury rehab center specializes in helping our clients recover from crack cocaine addiction. Our facilities and caring team are well equipped to help you with the physical and psychological side effects of your addiction. We are committed to providing a safe and trigger-free environment to take care of you as you confront the causes of your dependency. We will create a tailored treatment plan so you can work through the issues underlying your addictive behaviors. You will be empowered as you work to understand your triggers and develop new life goals, using our evidence-based approaches to crack cocaine addiction treatment.

About United Recovery Project

Why Choose United Recovery CA for Crack-Cocaine Treatment?

Our crack-cocaine expertise is spread through assessment, detoxification and rehabilitation. With our years' long experience in treating people suffering from dependence to crack, we can help you too. With our optimised facilities, the experience of our therapists, counsellors and support workers, through our aftercare team - we are here to provide you with the best chance at getting better. But not only this - we are here to support you in the long term.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How does crack affect my brain?

Crack causes a flood of dopamine to be released with each hit, so your brain stops producing its own. It causes damage to your brain structure and loss of grey matter. It causes neurons to die, and slows down the functioning of your brain.

Is there help for Crack Cocaine addiction?

Crack addiction is a treatable disease but because of its nature to be relapsing, professional interventions give you the best chance of long-term recovery. It will take your full commitment but our success rates have shown that it is possible to heal.

Can I quit alone?

The research indicates that support is almost always necessary to quit. You will need the help of a loved one, and seeking input from your GP is recommended if you do not want to approach a rehab center. Keeping secrets and not wanting to disclose your addiction may keep you in its cycle. It’s important to speak to someone.

Should I just go ‘cold turkey’?

Crack withdrawal symptoms are very psychologically distressing and can be physically dangerous. Wanting to alleviate them causes many clients to relapse without the appropriate professional help. While you will not be tapered in a professional rehab center, it is important that your symptoms are managed by medical staff. You must get medical advice to stop safely.

How to help if someone is overdosing?

Please call 911 without delay and give the emergency responder as much information as possible. If the person has no pulse or has stopped breathing, administer CPR. If the person is very upset or shows signs of violence, you must protect yourself.

Do You Need Help?

You can get better with the right support. Don’t hesitate to contact us now so that we can discuss the next steps.

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