Cocaine Addiction Causes

Addiction is a chronic brain disease that often results in some sort of relapse. Addiction is characterized by inability to control drug use which results in problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships. This disease causes compulsive behaviors such as the need to use drugs despite the many harmful consequences that affect the addicted individual and those around him or her. Although for most people, the initial decision to use drugs is a one time lapse in judgement, the brain is easily affected by these drugs if the person decides to use these drugs multiple times. The changes that occur to the brain over time will cause the addicted person’s ability to resist the intense impulses of drugs to be altered causing the addict to often give into the temptation of these drugs. Like other chronic diseases, addiction often involves cycles of relapse and remission. Without treatment or engagement in recovery activities, addiction is progressive and can result in disability or premature death. Drug addiction is an issue that many people deal with whether they are the addict or the addict is their loved one; but with a good source of support anyone can over come the challenges and consequences of addiction.

The findings and results of these case studies showed cocaine users in a dangerous light. The researchers reached the conclusion that “social factors influenced paranoia and hallucinations even at high consumption levels and [they] can attribute these findings to differences in learning between novice and experienced users” (Erickson, et al 206). The amount of cocaine using friends one has plays a role in the amount of cocaine consumed and the effects it has on the individual compared to if one took the drug alone. These factors are significantly different when it comes to the difference between crack and powder users. A study conducted in the early nineties found “significantly higher levels [of toxicity] than chewing or snorting occur after intravenous use [injection]” (Karch The Pathology of Drug Abuse 20). The drug enters the bloodstream immediately upon injection which helps bring the user to a faster “high.” This route of administration can be extremely addictive as the user will want more and more to achieve the same effect.

It is believed that certain individuals are predisposed or vulnerable to addiction based on biological, psychological and social influences. The euphoric high produced by many addictive substances is the result of overstimulation of the “pleasure center” of the brain. This is the same area that controls emotions, fear, self-control and overall feelings of wellness. The presence of these foreign chemicals creates a response that the brain will crave as soon as it fades. The brain’s chemistry works against its own health, as it rewires its decision making faculties around the primary goal of finding and taking more of the drug” (1). Many people mistakenly believe that psychological addiction is somehow less serious or real than physical addiction. The psychological aspects of addiction are much more challenging to repair and recover from than the physical addiction. Psychological addiction can last for years or even a lifetime.

The definition provided above is accessible and easy to understand; however, it initiates false beliefs among individuals because it fails to acknowledge that drug addiction is a mental health problem. Moreover, when words such as, “dependence”, “control” and “craving” are used to define drug addiction, it leaves an impression to the reader that addicts are indeed “people who cannot control their impulses.” Consequently, when we fail to recognize that drug addiction is a mental health problem, our focus is diverted towards the physical aspect of drug addiction. This could cause the belief among individuals that drugs alone cause the addiction. It is essential to acknowledge that there are chemical hooks in drugs; however, individuals need to understand that drugs alone do not cause the addiction. We need to identify and distinguish the “root cause” of addiction and ask ourselves: what caused the individual to take the drug in the first place?

In society, drugs have been the downfall for many people. There are many reasons that a person may use drugs such as: peer pressure, relief of stress, increased energy, to relax, to relieve pain, to escape reality, to feel more self esteem, and for recreation ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011). What is it that causes the obsession and compulsion to use drugs? Why can some people stop and others go on to become addicts? Addiction is often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to the user and society ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011).

As the disease model argues that there is no cure for addiction, the only treatments available aims to reduce or suppress the urge to use drugs (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). Firstly, addicts

Wise and Koob state that addiction begins with positive reinforcement, habits, a person feels the “high” of the habit, however, then the tolerance sets in which conditions the brain for negative reinforcements and one increases the use to enjoy the habit (2014). According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2012), drug addiction is a chronic brain disease. This disease is complex disease that is treatable, however it is a lifetime of treatment, sending many into relapses over and over again. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)

One of the most detrimental and addictive narcotics in the world today is cocaine. Cocaine dates back as early as 3000 BC. Ancient Incas used the coca leaves to counter the effects of living in thin mountain air. Native Peruvians in the 1500’s chewed the plant strictly for religious ceremonies. Andean Indians are believed to chew the leaves of the coca plant to increase their energy for work while decreasing their hunger and pain. It wasn’t until 1859 when a German chemist Albert Niemann successfully extracted the narcotic from the coca leaf. In the 1880’s, it was freely prescribed by physicians for “maladies as exhaustion, depression, and morphine addiction and was available in many patent medicines” (“Cocaine”), until users and doctors began to realize its dangers and side effects. While it was not fully understood at the time, cocaine has many devastating and lasting effects on the user.

Addiction of cocaine has proven to be a lifetime addiction and there is always a possibility for relapse even after years of curtailment. These drugs have the ability to alter the physical makeup of the brain.

Abstinence reinforcement interventions have been shown that although they can effectively promote abstinence from multiple drugs, it is more challenging to reinforce abstinence from multiple drugs, than it is to reinforce abstinence from a single drug (Epstein & Preston, 2008). Preston et al., (2008) conducted a carefully controlled randomized trial to directly address this subject. In this study, the goal was to conclude whether focusing on prize-based contingency management toward abstinence individually for cocaine or opiates, would be more effective for decreasing use of both drugs , rather than focusing on abstinence from only one drug. The outcome of the research conducted by Preston et al. (2008) showed that the dual contingency

Kohn established that the result of the punishment and reward system is inevitably counter productive; although it may be successful in the short term, motivation rapidly diminishes if the rewards are not increased and frequent. Finally, extrinsic motivation, as the underlying principle for abstaining from drug use, can impair intrinsic motivation by eradicating the addicts innate desire to take the action on his, or her, own volition; from that point on, one must be punished or rewarded each time they either use or refrain from the use of drugs Intrinsic Factors

Through studies on cocaine and opioid dependent users, researchers have found that the severity of physical dependence to cocaine and opioids has shown to be positively correlated to impulsivity. The drug the user is addicted to, as well as other factors, are also linked with susceptibility to addiction, likelihood of illegal drug use, and intensity of addiction. The study concludes by suggesting impulsivity as an indicator for the level addiction in cocaine

I believe there are a lot of strengths of contingency management for substance abuse. In my opinion, it is important to find the proper management approach that fits the client’s needs. There are four areas in which contingency management uses to analysis behavior: Specification of a target behavior, analysis of the current environmental events that control the behavior, modification of current environmental events and measurement of behavior change (Thombs & Osborn, 2013, p. 147). This is crucial to find the proper management approach. The approaches are designed to assist clients with managing their behavior. According to our text, there are five types of approaches which are “(1) establish and maintain controlled drinking; (2) initiate and maintain abstinence and encourage the adoption of recovery behaviors (taking an Antabuse [disulfiram] tablet, attending AA each day, etc.); (3) promote positive change in a client’s vocational, recreational, social, and familial functioning; (4) reduce cocaine and other illicit

Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by frequent drug abuse can impair a person's self-discipline and ability to make sound judgements, and at the same time create an intense impulse to take drugs. It is because of these alterations in the brain that it is so puzzling for a person to stop abusing drugs. Luckily, there are treatments that help people to neutralize addiction's powerful disruptive effects and regain control of their lives. Study shows that combining addiction treatment medications, when suitable, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are custom-made to each patient's drug abuse patterns and any concurrent medical, psychiatric, and social problems can help achieve sustained recovery and a life without drugs.

“The overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs ”(“Understanding Drug Abuse). Using addictive drugs floods the limbic brain with dopamine, taking it up to as much as five or ten times the normal level. A person with elevated dopamine levels now has a brain that begins to associate the substance with an outside neurochemical reward (“Your Brain on Drugs”). As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy the drugs, as well as the events in life that previously brought pleasure. The decrease in normal dopamine levels encourages the addict to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, except now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high, an effect known as tolerance (“Understanding Drug Abuse ). That is what leads to the state of addiction, which leaves the person in a cycle of craving, using, withdrawal, and relapse.