Cocaine addiction

Cocaine Addiction

How to Help Someone with a Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine addiction can upend someone’s life, socially impacting not just the person using the drug, but also their circle of friends and family. If someone in your life is dealing with cocaine addiction, you’re not alone. Here’s what you need to know about getting them the support they need.

What is Cocaine Addiction?

Cocaine is a fine, white powder made from coca plants in South America. Cocaine often makes the user feel energetic, extra talkative, highly productive, and mentally alert. Usually, the effects of Cocaine last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.

Using cocaine can lead to a variety of short term and long term effects that range from increased heart rate and erratic behavior to neurological effects such as seizure, stroke, or coma.

Like using other substances, using cocaine becomes an addiction when someone cannot control or stop their consumption for a sustained period of time. Given the highly addictive properties of cocaine and the severe potential long term effects, medical attention is important if someone is consistently using.

What are the Signs of Cocaine Addiction?

Given the severe effects of sustained cocaine use, it’s important to be on the lookout for when cocaine use might transition to addiction.

If you suspect someone in your life might be using cocaine, they may exhibit some of these symptoms occasionally:

• Dilated pupils
• Erratic behavior
• Financial problems
• Inconsistent performance at school and/or work
• Paranoia
• Runny and/or bloody nose

Longer term, if someone begins to become addicted to cocaine, these symptoms will become more consistent and frequent. Additionally, they may begin to demonstrate some of the symptoms of long term cocaine use, such as headaches, seizures, nausea, and coma.

It’s very serious if someone overdoses on cocaine. Symptoms of overdose include life-threatening conditions such as irregular heart rhythm, heart attack, seizure, and stroke. If you think someone has overdosed, it is important to get them medical attention immediately.

How Can I Help Someone who is Addicted to Cocaine?

If someone in your life is addicted to cocaine, it can be overwhelming to know how to help them find support. Likely, you’re worried about the health risks involved in their using cocaine and want to make sure they’re safe as soon as possible. But, the reality is that sometimes it’s overwhelming to know where to start. If you’re unsure of how to make the first move to support someone, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Do your research. Start by learning a bit about cocaine, why people use it, and the impact cocaine use has one someone who is using. While learning about the severe health risks using cocaine poses might be scary, understanding a bit about the psychological impact of using might help you understand more about why the person in your life is making the choices they’re making. This understanding will help you build empathy for them in a scary and likely frustrating situation.

2. Have a dialogue. Go into a conversation about cocaine use knowing what you want to say, but leave room for listening too. It might help to make a brief plan or outline for the main points you want to get across in a conversation like this. In these kinds of conversations, it’s important to express that you’re bringing this up because you care about them and you’re concerned about their health and safety. You can try phrases like, “I care about you and I’ve noticed a pattern that’s concerning me.”

3. Connect them to professional support. If someone in your life is addicted to cocaine, it’s not solely your responsibility to get them healthy. Sometimes, the best you can do is point them in the direction of professionals who can provide more tailored and specific support. DynamiCare Health may be a good place to start if you think this person would benefit from customized, personal coaching all on their smartphone.

4. Keep trying. If someone is addicted to cocaine, it will likely be hard to convince them to seek support in your first conversation with them. Because they’re seeing all of the benefits of the high and not clearly seeing the detrimental health impacts, it will likely take ongoing, consistent conversations and interventions to help them think rationally. Know that as long as you’re there to listen and point them in the direction of support, you’re doing the best you can.