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Apex Recovery Blog

Treatments for Cocaine Addiction

a person sits on a rock in the ocean off the beach

Melanie was a young college student who moved across the country from her parents. She was away from her friends and family and ultimately away from her sense of comfortability and familiarity. She started at a new school and no longer felt a sense of connection with peers. She found herself struggling to make new friends or try new things. It didn’t take long for the anxiety and depression to sink in. She tried to join on-campus programs to make new friends, but her social anxiety and lack of confidence made this challenging for her. The high demands of school combined with the anxiety of being in a new environment and the sadness of missing what she once called home become overwhelming and almost unmanageable. She started to fall behind in her responsibilities, and her grades started to suffer. One night, Melanie was invited to a party with her roommate, where she was introduced to cocaine.  Her roommate, who had good grades and a full social calendar was doing it, so it didn’t seem like a big deal.  She loved how she felt immediately and found herself more at ease and comfortable.  Melanie knew cocaine would disappoint her parents, so she avoided going out with her roommate again.  She continued to struggle with depression and loneliness and her grades continued to struggle.  A few months went by and a peer offered it to her after one of her after-school programs.  Her desire to fit in coupled with her desire to stay on top of all her tasks led to her saying yes. She found a new sense of confidence, happiness, and energy to manage her school work; however, it wasn’t long before her drug use started to increase to during the week as well. After several months of this, she began to realize she was using the drug almost daily and even sometimes alone when her energy level and concentration weren’t necessarily issues anymore. Meanwhile, Robert dreamed of being a lawyer since the time he was a young boy. He idolized his father, also a lawyer, and used to watch him get ready for work with admiration in his eyes. He admired the fancy clothes, confidence, ability to defend an argument, and the wealth that followed weeks of hard work. He followed his dream and became a lawyer at a respectable firm in New York; however, he struggled to manage his time with his new caseload and found himself falling behind in his work. His boss continuously scolded him and gave him a warning about his position at the firm. Robert turned to his colleagues for support and learned that his colleagues resorted to cocaine use to give them the energy they needed to stay on top of their caseloads. Robert wasn’t keen on the idea but agreed to it as a quick fix until he could figure something else out. He told himself he would try it briefly until he could get caught up with his work before stopping and trying something else; however, weeks turned into months, which turned into a year. Robert found a new-found sense of confidence and energy, but he also found himself struggling to get by without the drug. He knew he had a problem but simply didn’t know how to stop without losing his job or the respect of his colleagues. Cocaine use is a problem that affects people all over the world, and why wouldn’t it? It’s a stimulant that often begins in a recreational setting. It increases energy levels and can lead to perceived feelings of confidence, happiness, and decreased anxiety and depression levels. Repeated reports of celebrities and media influencers using cocaine lower the stigma and increases the social acceptability of the drug.  People are drawn to the drug for these reasons, but it is highly addictive, expensive, and has harmful effects such as fast heart rate, high blood pressure, and sweating to name a few. What happens when you find yourself struggling with cocaine addiction?  Who can people turn to get help? How do people know when to get help, and what are the treatment options for people who struggle with cocaine abuse? As demonstrated in the examples, Melanie and Robert started to use the drug to help better manage their time or help with a lack of confidence, high anxiety, and depression, but they came to realize their drug use started to get out of hand when it increased and started to serve purposes outside of the originally intended use. If you or someone you know can relate to these stories and struggle with cocaine use, it is time to get help.  The highly trained and skilled professionals at Apex Recovery want you or loved ones to know you have options, and we can help.

Initial Steps of Treatment

At Apex Recovery, the client’s safety and wellbeing are of utmost priority. The trained and educated staff ensure safety is maintained by providing clients with certain comfort medications that help the body get rid of the harmful chemicals, stabilize, and ultimately return to a place of functionality and awareness. Clients will be provided with medications to address issues such as nausea, sleeping, high blood pressure, tremors, and any other residual effects of the stimulant and cocaine withdrawal. Since cocaine use often accompanies excessive alcohol use, medication monitoring may be indicated to prevent the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.  Our goal at Apex Recovery is to ensure comfort and safety, to allow for treatment and resolution.

Residential or Outpatient Treatment

The clinical staff at Apex Recovery will help determine the appropriate level of care that is necessary for the treatment of cocaine addiction.  For individuals needing intervention and coping skills to prevent continued use, as well as support to remain engaged in treatment, in-patient residential treatment is a more ideal option.  Additionally, in-patient residential treatment is recommended for the individual without support or structure in their home environment, or who live in an environment that is unsafe or triggering to sobriety.  Conversely, a person who is open to recovery and understands their triggers and lives in a supportive environment has the potential to be successful at the outpatient level of care.

Therapy for Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine addiction is often a symptom of an underlying issue.  This may be a mood or anxiety disorder, traumatic event, or family or relationship struggles. At Apex Recovery, we strive to help our clients improve their emotional awareness and ability to cope with their internal and external struggles.  Our clients engage in individual, couple, and family therapy to help address and resolve the life issues contributing to substance use.  Through engagement in the therapeutic process, clients are supported in achieving a level of health and wellbeing that no longer requires the stimulant.

Holistic Services

Understanding that substance use is more than a behavior, is an integral part of the recovery process.  Treating cocaine addiction with a holistic and individualized approach that address aspects of mind, body, and spirit is an essential part of the recovery process.  Engaging in yoga, meditation, massage, yoga, Qi-gong, and Tai Chi supports improvement in emotional awareness, physical health, and overall well-being.  Exposure to these holistic services help with anxiety management and get the client-centered as this promotes improved cognitive functioning and eliminates the anxiety that the drug may have initially been intended to address.

Sober Support System

Engagement and support from a network of sober individuals help promote recovery from cocaine addiction and can prevent relapse and continued use of cocaine.  It is important to recognize that there is not a “one size fits all” approach to the treatment of cocaine addiction, and similarly there are multiple paths to building a sober support system. Reconnecting or repairing relationships with family and friends that promote recovery is supported at Apex Recovery.  Learning problem solving and relationship skills, as well as improving on social skills, is taught and practiced at the group and individual level.  Clients are supported in exploring social anxiety, and the role that cocaine may have played in their social circle.  For some, overcoming cocaine addiction may mean creating a new social network, or setting boundaries with their current social network.  Through exploring relationship dynamics and improving communication skills, clients will be supported in creating a social group that will promote their well-being. For some individuals entering treatment for cocaine addiction, reconnecting or repairing relationships with family and friends may not be a viable option.  For some, utilizing their current social support system to help in their recovery, also may not be an option.  For all, establishing with a community of sober individuals will only play a beneficial role in their journey to recovery.  Attending peer-support meetings, whether they be the traditional 12-step model of Cocaine Anonymous (CA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), or the lesser known SMART Recovery, is an integral part of treatment.  Through the individualized treatment unique to the boutique style of Apex Recovery, clients will be supported in exploring their preferences for establishing a peer-support network.

Relapse Prevention

Lastly, relapse prevention is a vital component of treatment and begins the day you or your loved one enters treatment with Apex Recovery. Clients are educated on refusal techniques if in high-risk situations and are supporting in learning communication skills, distraction techniques, and emotional regulation strategies.  Through individualized work with a trained therapist, clients are supported with creating relapse prevention plans, which address triggers and thoughts that precipitate relapse, constructive activities, healthy places to go, and people to reach out to when experiencing triggers or cravings. The treatment team of Apex Recovery knows that some of the hardest challenges in the journey to recovery begin once the client leaves the facility, so they set the client up for success by making sure the relapse prevention plan is created and explored. If you or your loved one are struggling with cocaine addiction, please know that you are not alone and that you have options to return to a life that can be happy, healthy, and free of cocaine use. Call today, and through our comprehensive assessment process, we can provide support in determining the best course of treatment for you.  At Apex Recovery, the staff is well versed in addiction, so clients are treated with care and exposed to a variety of different treatment modalities to increase the likelihood of sobriety and success.

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