The Definitive Guide About Cocaine Addiction & Women
According to multiple reports and studies, it seems that women are more prone to cocaine addiction than men, with some sources reporting increases in addiction amongst women still rising due to women apparently having a high susceptibility to cocaine addiction.
The National Institute of Drug Abuse has researched the differences of cocaine addiction among women and men and found that different factors formed the reasoning behind their use. Possibly because of women’s metabolisms, their bodies react differently to the drug. Another theory is that women develop a cocaine addiction because they are psychologically more dependent.
Because women and adolescents are increasingly developing cocaine addiction, the rate of young women in treatment is on the rise. Men still have a higher cocaine addiction rate than women overall, but the rate of women finding treatment is catching up. National studies show that the number of women checking into treatment for their cocaine addiction is increasing and the common age is between 18 and 25.
We’re all conscious of the pressure on women these days, especially younger women, to be stylish and thin, the skinnier the better in many cases, especially in certain walks of life and specific industries.
In a recent survey, more than 63 percent of female respondents answered “no” when polled about whether or not they were content with their current weight. You might be wondering how this relates to cocaine addiction? Well, cocaine is a stimulant drug that directly impacts the brain and its strong neurological impact makes it ever more addictive in nature. For women, the compulsion to use cocaine is often derived from a combination of social, familial, environmental, and genetic variables.
Cocaine can be especially appealing to women who crumble under the pressure to be thin using the traditional healthy methods such as combining exercise with a good balanced diet. If these approaches fail, cocaine can present itself as a viable alternative weight loss method, simply because of its appetite-suppressing abilities, which is perhaps why it is prevalent in the modelling world and other industries which come under close public scrutiny.
Another reason for women being more susceptible to cocaine addiction than men is that cocaine affects the estrus cycle in women, hence affecting the estrogen level in the body.
Unfortunately, what might be misconstrued as ‘positive’ side effects by those wishing to be thinner are far outweighed by the dangerous long term effects that cocaine addiction causes. The use of cocaine creates euphoria and high amounts of energy, much like caffeine. If taken in large, unsafe doses, it is possible to cause mood swings, paranoia, insomnia, psychosis, high blood pressure, tachycardia, panic attacks, cognitive impairments and drastic changes in personality.
The symptoms of cocaine withdrawal range from moderate to severe: dysphoria, depression, anxiety, psychological and physical weakness, pain and compulsive craving.
You may ask, with all this knowledge available, especially of the negative effects, how we still let ourselves succumb to cocaine addiction. Well, it can be somewhat of a slippery slope. Initially, the short-term effects of cocaine generally dissipate within an hour.
So, perhaps on a Saturday night, a female may snort cocaine a few times throughout the course of an evening, sneaking into the bathroom to do so behind closed doors. The problem is, once an addiction begins to grow, willpower decreases, which just compounds the problem.
The pressure to be thin and model-like is intense and unrealistic for many young women, especially when women feel as though they have failed to meet social expectations. Such loss can develop feelings of worthlessness, uselessness, despair, and self-loathing which can often coincide with how addicts feel after using drugs.
These two negative thought patterns work together within the user’s mind and grow destructive behaviour in detrimental directions, keeping the woman engrossed in unhealthy, cocaine fuelled habits to counter any inner conflict and to relieve feelings of guilt, remorse and regret.
Consequently, the cocaine serves as a short-term solution to a deeper, long-term problem and contributes to the overall demise of the afflicted individual, until the only cure is through professional addiction treatment services.
Cocaine’s short-term effects are mistakenly deemed favourable by many users. In addition, withdrawal from cocaine is characterized by an unpleasant backlash of symptoms. This combination of characteristics contributes to an addictive cycle that pushes addicts into an abyss of mental darkness.
Sadly, cocaine addiction requires professional addiction treatment services. Cocaine addiction is an insidious disease that affects the addict’s neurological makeup, dampens the spirit, and wreaks havoc on the body. Again, female addicts, more so than male cocaine addicts, often face concurrent disorders such as depression and/or anxiety. Thus, the need to undergo professional addiction treatment services is ever more apparent in such cases.
On a general level, women appear to experience fewer poignant effects from cocaine when compared to men. However, the desire to stay trim and lean can drive an intense cocaine addiction that would otherwise have fizzled out after the latest party. Eventually, women addicted to cocaine seek out and use the drug simply to feel normal; the drug no longer produces a high or represents a positive part of their life, aside from its short-term ability to manage weight.
Female cocaine addicts can learn to replace unhealthy coping mechanisms with healthy addiction treatment services, including alternatives through out-patient programs, in-patient rehabilitation programs for cocaine addiction, substance abuse counseling and therapy or participation in local 12-step meetings such as Cocaine Anonymous (CA)
So, to summarize, as surprising as it may sound, cocaine addiction is clearly ‘still a thing for women’. Luckily it is largely recognized as a serious problem and there are numerous avenues for help and assistance, many of which recognize and deal specifically with solutions tailored for women.
Very few people understand just how scary and difficult it can be to fight cocaine addiction, but the good news is that it’s totally possible with the right help, advice and guidance, and you’ll come out of it as a much stronger person.
If you or a loved one required addiction treatment services for cocaine addiction, please call this helpline from anywhere in Canada or the U.S. 1-800-801-8354
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