How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain?

How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain?

Unfortunately, cocaine is now a highly abused, normalised stimulant drug. It’s mainly favoured for the positive, euphoric feelings it induces, all linked to emotions and moods in the limbic system.

While those positives may be experienced for the short-term. Sadly, the long-term effects of cocaine on the brain can be significant, irreversible, and highly associated with mental health issues and addiction.

Worryingly, many users of cocaine see the drug as harmless. They will overlook how cocaine and its effects on the brain can be life-limiting and can be highly dangerous for the future. Cocaine behavioural effects, physical cocaine health effects, mental effects of cocaine are all common, are all difficult to live with, and are all linked to addiction.

Down to this denial, down to a lack of awareness, at Rehab Clinics Group, we feel a duty to cover the topic of ‘how does cocaine affect the brain, for the short-term and long-term?’. Here’s all you need to know about the damages you could be enabling by consuming cocaine. If you’re struggling with substance abuse or drug addiction, reach out for our professional rehabilitation support.

 

Short-term Effects of Cocaine Use on the Brain

Short-term effects of cocaine on the brain, unfortunately, contribute to the problem. As they are perceived as positive, down to the artificial production of dopamine, many individuals continue to strive for those positives.

Cocaine is a stimulant drug. It motivates excessive production of happy chemicals, impacting the limbic system. The limbic system is in control of emotions, feelings and outlooks. Through cocaine consumption, the limbic system is positively affected, increasing energy, promoting happiness, and further happy chemicals.

This is however where the development of an addiction can take place. Cocaine is a highly addictive substance which can be relied upon simply after short-term consumption. As those emotions and feelings are craved and longed for moving forward, battling a tolerance, consumption of cocaine will continue to reach euphoria.

 

How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain for the Long-term?

Above sees how cocaine effects, for the short-term, are contributing to the long-term problem of drug addiction. This is highly concerning, as unknowingly, cocaine is affecting the brain in many different ways, some classed as irreversible changes.

If you’re wondering ‘how does cocaine affect the brain for the long-term?’, here’s exactly how, where cellular development can take a turn for the worst, where mental health issues can show themselves, where addiction risks are high.

Once a tolerance develops when considering cocaine consumption levels, future consumption will need to go above and beyond this. In order to achieve similar levels of dopamine, in order to benefit the limbic system, in order to continue reward-seeking behaviours, cocaine abuse will endure.

Not only can addiction risks heighten, but cellular development can also come to a halt, along with future organic production of happy chemicals. Here’s where cocaine and the brain can result in the likes of depression and anxiety, down to imbalanced chemicals and hormones. Plus, cocaine is often a drug that’s used in conjunction with other narcotics, which is incredibly dangerous. For example, mixing ketamine and cocaine can result in severe side effects and long-term consequences, such as permanent changes to our brain function.

Ultimately, excessive cocaine consumption can cause cognitive adaptations and damages, which enabled for the long-term, can imbed themselves for the future. This is exactly why professional drug addiction rehabilitation services should be considered, before those adaptations rank as irreversible.

 

Cocaine and Mental Health Issues

As outlined above, adaptations in the brain can cause mental health issues. There is a high correlation between drug addiction and mental health issues, down to the toxicity of ongoing consumption.

Cocaine, standing as one of the most impactful drugs out there can cause rapid adaptations, resulting in weaknesses. Those weaknesses will directly stimulate mental health side effects, such as those linked with depression and paranoia.

The worrying concern is that those side effects will present themselves down to excessive cocaine consumption. Yet, that exact consumption will continue, in order to cope through the mental effects of cocaine.

This can act as causation of addiction, along with a dual diagnosis, making it very difficult to overcome the effects of taking cocaine.

 

Sourcing Support for Drug Addiction

The effects of cocaine on the brain can be detrimental, both short and long-term. Down to this, if you are abusing excessive, high quantities of cocaine, we urge you to consider support through a drug addiction recovery programme.

While some adaptations will remain, the aim is to motivate withdrawal from cocaine, along with cognitive realignment. Targeting those changes in the brain are very important, helping to reduce relapse risks and dependencies in the future.

At Rehab Clinics Group, we can support you with this process by completing addiction treatments, with a large focus on psychological recovery. While physical withdrawal from cocaine is important, the impacts on the brain are even riskier. With this in mind, a comprehensive addiction treatment programme will be mandatory in order to support cognitive repair.

Cognitive behavioural therapy, support groups, exposure therapy, stress management and motivational therapy are commonly recommended treatment options, utilised to revert the effects of cocaine on the brain. This form of recovery can only be achieved through professional support, as great psychological intervention will be required to break a habit.

 

Normalise the Hazardous Image of Cocaine

Cocaine has been a highly consumed drug for years. Through this, it is normalised, across generations, social groups and cultures. Unfortunately, this normalisation has contributed to chronic addiction rates, all down to the effects that cocaine has on the brain.

In order to tackle this outlook, it’s time to normalise the hazardous image of cocaine. You can contribute to this by firstly understanding how cocaine affects the brain, positively and negatively. We are sure that many users will be shocked by the negative developments which are happening under the surface, down to cocaine.

To learn further information around the hazardous risks of ongoing cocaine consumption, reach out today. We can help you increase your awareness around this, along with offering recovery support if necessary. Ongoing cocaine consumption can damage one of the most important organs in our body, followed by addiction, mental health issues and further cognitive conditions. Learn how to withdraw from cocaine, helping to preserve your physical and mental health moving forward, without the control and addictive characteristics of cocaine.