Cocaine addiction is frighteningly common in the UK, particularly in young adults. It’s a class a drug that’s known for its psychoactive properties, usually providing people with a sense of euphoria and a massive high.
As with all drugs, there are plenty of side effects to using cocaine, including death. One of the most common and worrying is something called cocaine psychosis.
This usually comes after regular cocaine use, and it’s an issue that needs plenty of attention. If you suspect a friend or family member may be using cocaine, here’s how to spot the signs.
What is Cocaine Psychosis?
Cocaine psychosis is a mental state where you start to see things or believe things that you’ve manufactured in your mind. Many people that suffer from this have borderline personality disorders like schizophrenia. It mainly comes about after an individual has recently used cocaine.
It is often referred to as cocaine-induced psychosis because psychosis itself is a symptom of various mental health conditions.
Cocaine causes extreme highs, but it also leads to extreme lows. Dopamine in your system increases dramatically when cocaine is taken, but it will fall after about an hour.
This causes a severe lack of dopamine in your system, which leads to a lot of psychological symptoms and problems. Hence, people enter a state of cocaine psychosis, whereby they feel delusional, anxious, paranoid, and so on. It’s very dangerous, and we’ll explain why throughout this article.
What are the Symptoms of cocaine psychosis?
There are a few key symptoms of cocaine-induced psychosis that you should be aware of:
- Paranoia
- Delusional feelings
- Severe anxiety
- Frequent hallucinations or the feeling of being ‘spaced out’
- Prone to bouts of violence and anger
- Rapid mood swings
- Suicidal thoughts
These symptoms tend to be temporary and occur after cocaine has been used. Most people with cocaine psychosis will feel it from anywhere between a couple of hours to a couple of weeks.
Paranoise is the leading symptom of cocaine psychosis as almost half of the people with this issue suffer from it.
The longer someone goes on using cocaine, the longer these symptoms will persist.
The dangers of cocaine-induced psychosis
The main danger of cocaine psychosis is that the individual is a risk to themselves and others. A lot of people sadly commit suicide or hurt other people around them when suffering from this condition.
You lose control of your thoughts, and it leads you to think some very dark things.
Of course, it can also cause long-lasting mental health conditions like extreme paranoia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and more.
Treatment for Cocaine Psychosis
If you suspect someone close to you suffers from this problem – or you suffer from it yourself – then you need treatment. The best approach is to go on a detox from cocaine.
This can be very challenging and lead to multiple cocaine withdrawal symptoms. But, by stopping the use of cocaine, you can start to treat the symptoms of cocaine-induced psychosis.
Our drug rehab clinic can help with the treatment. We provide assisted detoxes that are designed to help people get through this challenging stage while managing the withdrawal symptoms.
From here, we have experienced medical and psychological professionals who can help treat cocaine psychosis and the symptoms associated with it.
We offer lots of different therapies and methods, so feel free to contact us today if you want to learn more or book a tour of our facilities.
Useful Links
Case study: Chloe’s cocaine addiction
