Cocaine, an illegal drug, stimulates the central nervous system, which increases the levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine triggers the portion of the brain associated with pleasure and movement. Over the long term, cocaine use may lead to addiction, as well as a host of additional medical problems, including heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure. Successful cocaine addiction treatments exist, including behavioral intervention therapy, self-help programs and medications.
Behavioral Intervention Therapy
The most effective treatment for cocaine addition is behavioral therapy. Pharmacological treatment combines with behavioral therapy for successful outcomes, in residential and outpatient treatment scenarios.These addiction treatment options break habits by engaging those in recovery in a learning process that identifies triggers for cocaine cravings and halt interactions with those in their lives who use cocaine. Discontinuing old routines and restructuring an addicts life while providing coping skills for stress and other trigger situations offers those in therapy a successful way to avoid cocaine use in the future.
Self-Help Programs
Group drug counseling methods developed and supported by The National Institutes of Health National Institute on Drug Abuse morphed into community outpatient programs, which often take the form of self-help programs, including Cocaine Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. Analysis of data from a multi-site clinical trial called the Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study reveals recovering addicts who actively attend self-help groups are more successful in avoiding cocaine use than addicts who do not utilize these options.
Medication
An animal study published in the August 1998 issue of "Synapse" revealed one epilepsy drug's successful use in blocking cocaine-related dopamine effect in primate brains. Compounds exist to interfere with the effects of cocaine while not impacting normal mood-balancing actions of dopamine, which could successfully help an addict avoid cocaine use. Researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse use these findings for clinical trials that may result in improved pharmacological intervention options to stop cocaine use.
