subject: Cocaine Addiction And Treatment [print this page] Cocaine stimulates the brain by imitating the actions of chemicals produced by he brain and sends pleasure signals to the brain's reward centre. It produces similar effects to adrenaline such as increased breathing rate, blood pressure and heart rate. If the stimulation reaches too high a level, other feelings can be produced such as rage, hallucinations, paranoia and panic. On from there, there can even be a progression to potentially fatal strokes and seizures.
Cocaine addiction treatment can be seen in various guises. They are based on a range of factors based on the severity of the symptoms and how long they have been present. The recovery rate and amount of damage done also play a part.
The symptoms which are most prevalent are depression, loss of energy, drug cravings, hyperventilation, sweating, irritability, fearfulness, nausea, increased appetite, shaking and a need for or difficulty in sleeping. These symptoms can actually last for several weeks and they don't always stop when cocaine is no longer being taken.
Although medical research is being undertaken and non-stop, medication to treat drugs is not presently available, Selegiline is the treatment considered to provide the most promise but has thus far failed to secure an appropriate method of administration. Disulfiram, used to treat alcoholism has also showed signs of promise during trials. There are other methods of treatment which are being developed as we speak with the sole aim of handling cocaine abuse.
Nurses, physicians and counsellors are usually found to be caring and considerate when dealing with addicts. There is recognition that the treatment is the common purpose and their actions are generally aligned to achieving that aim. The programmes themselves are designed to observe and record the level of addiction and deliver a programme based on that discovery. This then offers real hope to the treatment of cocaine addiction.
