What Cocaine Addiction Treatment Taught Me about Recovery
With today’s drive-thru services, fast turnaround times and quick and easy remedies, it’s not unreasonable to expect cocaine addiction treatment to be an “in-and-out” ordeal. Considering much of the cocaine experience has to do with physical feelings and sensations, it stands to reason that much of the treatment process centers on breaking the body’s dependence on the drug. Unfortunately, addiction reaches so much farther than the body’s physical well-being, warping the mind’s grasp on reality along the way.
Addiction, in any form, is a frame of mind that exists outside a person’s awareness. In the case of cocaine’s powerful effects, this frame of mind becomes even more so entrenched in one’s psychological makeup. In this respect, what cocaine addiction treatment taught me about recovery has to do with how the mind thinks and how a person lives from day-to-day.
Cocaine’s Damaging Effects
As of the first dose of cocaine, the drug overpowers the brain’s normal chemical processes, forcing the release of massive amounts of neurotransmitter chemicals. With repeated use, these effects “rewire” the brain’s chemical pathways and eventually reshape the brain’s structures, according to the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice.
By the time addiction takes hold, the brain has not only developed a physical dependency on cocaine’s effects, but also a psychological dependency. The detox treatment stage works to break the physical dependency component; however, the psychological dependence remains well intact.
Psychological dependency accounts for the warped priorities that drive a person to sacrifice his or her relationships, job and financial well-being for the sake of getting more of the drug. In effect, cocaine addiction treatment specifically deals with this aspect of addiction in recovery more than anything else.
If you’re considering treatment and you’re not sure if your insurance will cover your treatment costs, call our helpline at 800-934-3781(Who Answers?) for more information.
Cocaine Addiction Treatment and the Recovery Process
Having a drug-free mindset is imperative to recovery.
Confronting Denial
According to the U. S. National Library of Medicine, cocaine addiction breeds its own built-in belief systems, all of which work to promote compulsive drug-using behavior. Denial is one of the belief systems that makes addicts think they’re in total control of their drug use.
Cocaine addiction treatment enables a person to see how this belief system feeds into the addiction cycle. In effect, success in recovery hinges on a person’s ability to see denial and his or her powerlessness to the drug’s effects for what it is.
Countering the Addiction Mindset
The addiction mindset breeds its own thinking patterns, emotions and behaviors. During the course of cocaine addiction treatment, a person realizes that recovery entails developing the type of mindset that makes drug-free living possible.
Once a person has built a firm foundation in recovery, he or she realizes the choices made from day to day most determine his or her success in recovery.
Building a Drug-Free Lifestyle
More than anything else, building a drug-free lifestyle becomes the overall goal of cocaine addiction treatment. In effect, the recovery process entails replacing an addiction-based lifestyle with one that doesn’t rely on cocaine’s effects to cope with daily life.
If you or someone you know are considering cocaine addiction treatment and have more questions, or need help finding a treatment program that meets your needs, please don’t hesitate to call our toll-free helpline at 800-934-3781(Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction specialists.