Is Cocaine A Stimulant Or Depressant? Cocaine Abuse Effects

What Is Cocaine? 

Are Opiates Stimulants or Depressants?

Opiates are neither stimulants nor depressants, opioids are prescribed to treat severe pain since they are painkillers. Patients who have recently undergone surgery and may be in pain are frequently prescribed opioids by doctors. Stimulants are designed to accelerate bodily processes by increasing alertness, concentration, and energy. As a result, they’re frequently recommended by doctors to treat illnesses like depression, narcolepsy, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

On the other hand, depressants function by “depressing” or reducing the brain’s regular activity. Depressants are frequently prescribed by doctors to treat patients’ anxiety or sleep issues. Depressants can be a useful therapy for reducing stress and anxiety when used exactly as directed.

Cocaine Effects

Cocaine creates a strong sense of exhilaration. Users generally feel invincible, carefree, alert, euphoric, and have a lot of energy. This is usually followed by agitation, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and decreased appetite. Cocaine effects generally last up to one hour. This drug is a potent and dangerous substance. The short-term and long-term cocaine effects are equally serious. The most serious danger is death, resulting in cardiac arrest or seizures followed by respiratory failure.

Cocaine use contributes to tens of thousands of emergency department (ED) visits and hundreds of deaths each year [2]. While cocaine use is coincident in most cases, (e.g. trauma, psychiatric, or infections), cocaine overdose or cocaine poisoning accounts for many of these visits. The major effects of cocaine poisoning include CNS effects such as agitation, seizures, and psychosis, and cardiovascular effects such as dysrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular collapse.

Cocaine is a highly addictive illegal drug used by 14-21 million people worldwide [3]. In 2018 there are 874,000 new cocaine users [4]. Since cocaine is combined or ‘cut’ with other chemicals, people have no idea if the dose will be weak or strong. These other chemicals may include fillers, such as paint chemicals, cornstarch, fentanyl, and its analogs, which are added purely to boost profits and often lead to the risk of cocaine perforated septum and cocaine and erectile dysfunction.

What Are the Immediate Effects of Cocaine Use?

Short-term physiological effects of cocaine use include constricted blood vessels; dilated pupils; and increased body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Large amounts of cocaine may intensify the user’s high but can also lead to bizarre, erratic, and violent behavior. Some cocaine users report feelings of restlessness, irritability, anxiety, panic, and paranoia. Users may also experience tremors, vertigo, and muscle twitches.

How Long Do Cocaine Effects Last?

One of the most widespread cocaine myths is that cocaine highs last for days. You may hear people talk about staying awake on cocaine for days and wonder “how long does a cocaine high last?” The average cocaine high only lasts 15 to 30 minutes. But the reality is, in that situation, the person using cocaine is re-dosing over a long period of time. This is known as a cocaine binge.

What Is the Difference Between a Stimulant and a Depressant? 

Is cocaine depressant? Most addictive substances come in two general classes: depressants and stimulants. Their names can infer the most fundamental way in which these two types differ. Stimulants stimulate the central nervous system (CNS), and depressants do the opposite, slowing it and all the parts of the body controlled by the central nervous system down.

There are many other differences between stimulants and depressants. Due to the prevalence of recreational drug abuse, it’s important to be familiar with the effects of each type of drug in order to be able to recognize the signs of abuse, addiction, and overdose. Both stimulants and depressants claim lives every year due to overdose and other health problems related to long-term abuse. 

Stimulants

Stimulants are often called “uppers,” the kinds of drugs that make individuals feel supercharged with focus and energy, even to the point of feeling invincible. They send the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) into overdrive, increasing breathing and heart rates, causing a spike in blood pressure, and suppressing appetite. Certain stimulants can cause a rush of euphoria, especially if they’re taken via common abuse methods like smoking, snorting, or injection.

The most commonly used and abused stimulants include:

Caffeine and nicotine are, of course, legal and mild stimulants that many people use to get themselves going throughout the day, but they come with their own adverse side effects, especially if the drink or cigarette includes harmful additives. Cocaine, meth, and ecstasy are mainly considered to be “street” drugs that have few legitimate medical uses. Drugs like Adderall and Ritalin are stimulant medications that are mostly used legally to treat medical conditions, but they have been increasingly abused by individuals without a prescription.

Depressants

Depressants come in several categories, including legal and socially approved intoxicants, highly illegal street drugs, and different prescription anxiety medications and painkillers. They work by inhibiting the central nervous system (CNS) and slowing the heart rate and gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. This results in a feeling of relaxation, peace, and often sleepiness. These drugs can also produce intense euphoria, particularly if abusing opioids. This makes opioids particularly addictive.

Common depressants with abuse potential include:

Heroin, Vicodin, morphine, codeine, fentanyl, and OxyContin are all opioid painkillers. Heroin is actually very similar to morphine and essentially turns into morphine in the brain. However, it tends to be more potent and, due to the fact that it’s highly illegal, is often cut with other substances. 

Due to both their pain-relieving and pleasant, relaxing effects, prescription opioids are some of the most commonly abused drugs of the modern age. They often end up restricted by governments after years of being overprescribed by doctors, resulting in them saturating black markets or simply being shared by friends and family.

Other prescription depressants include benzodiazepines (Xanax and Valium) and barbiturates (phenobarbital and amobarbital ). These medications were prescribed for decades as supposed solutions to anxiety disorders and stress. Barbiturates came first, but it was soon found that these drugs were both highly addictive and had a high potential for overdose. Benzodiazepines were developed as a safer alternative, but they are still both dangerous and addictive.

Is Cocaine a Depressant, Is Cocaine a Downer?

If you find out that someone you love is abusing cocaine, it is normal to ask the question, is cocaine a stimulant or depressant? The basic answer is that cocaine is a stimulant. This means that using cocaine speeds up or stimulates the systems and functions of the body. This very powerful stimulant is derived from the coca plant. When it is used, it speeds up the central nervous system. This is why cocaine is often called a party drug. It makes people feel energetic and euphoric. Cocaine is a Schedule II drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse.

Stimulant drugs can increase alertness or concentration in the short term. They can also inhibit tiredness, which means that it is challenging to rest or sleep while under the influence of cocaine. Stimulants can speed up heart rate and increase blood pressure. This can cause a lot of problems, particularly for anyone with cardiac issues to begin with.

Does Cocaine Make You Depressed?

Does cocaine cause depression? Yes, there is convincing evidence that excessive cocaine usage can lead to depression. The danger of getting depression and long-term brain damage increases with the frequency and duration of cocaine use. Depression is prevalent among cocaine users. Chronic and long-term cocaine users have a considerably greater rate of depression than the rest of the general population. Dopamine floods the brain when cocaine is used. Users report feeling an intense euphoric high as a result of the dopamine surge.

The brain’s pleasure reward system, neurotransmitters, and brain cells are seriously altered and damaged by prolonged and chronic cocaine addiction; as a result, less dopamine is created and tolerance to cocaine develops. A cocaine addict eventually has to take greater doses of cocaine in order to experience pleasure. They are likely to experience extreme depression, become unproductive, and have mood swings when they aren’t using cocaine.

Even when taking cocaine, they eventually experience little to no pleasure. They only experience the negative side effects of cocaine use, such as despair, anxiety, and paranoia. The brain is now so damaged that it cannot create dopamine naturally or in response to external stimuli. Can cocaine cause depression? When a cocaine user reaches this stage, they experience helplessness and stuck. If timely professional care is not sought, the likelihood of a cocaine-related suicide increases dramatically.

Cocaine Addiction Treatment Near Me

First and foremost, if you think that a loved one is abusing cocaine, you should first research the drug and addiction associated with it so that you can better understand what your loved one needs. Next, you must plan an intervention to provide your loved ones with options to battle their addiction in a safe and supportive environment. During this intervention, make sure that you offer compassion and support instead of judgment. Lastly, offer your support throughout the entire treatment process.

In addition, prolonged Cocaine use can have severe physical and psychological effects, so it is essential to seek treatment as soon as possible. Inpatient drug rehab offers intensive care that can help you get through the early stages of withdrawal promptly. There are several myths about cocaine and other drugs, so you might be wondering is cocaine a stimulant or depressant?

Medically-Assisted Detox

Detox is often considered the first stage of treatment. It will help you navigate the complicated process of withdrawal, but it doesn’t address patterns of thought and behavior that contribute to drug use. Various treatment approaches and settings can help provide the ongoing support necessary to maintain long-term sobriety after you complete detox.

Cravings are very common during detox and can be challenging to overcome. This often leads to relapse. Constant medical care provided during inpatient treatment helps prevent relapse. Clinicians can provide necessary medication and medical expertise to lessen cravings and the effects of withdrawals.

Psychotherapy 

Several different modalities of psychotherapy have been used in the treatment of mental health disorders along with addiction, including:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – is an effective treatment that involves making changes in both the patterns of negative thoughts and the behavioral routines which are affecting the daily life of the depressed person for various forms of depression.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy – is a comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program whose ultimate goal is to aid patients in their efforts to build a life worth living. The main goal of DBT is to help a person develop what is referred to as a “clear mind.” 
• Person-Centered Therapy – is a strategy that allows and encourages clients to understand and resolve their concerns in a safe, supportive environment.
• Solution Focused Therapy – is an approach interested in solutions that can be quickly implemented with a simple first step leading to further positive consequences.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Drug abuse and mental health disorders often co-occur. In many cases, traumatic experiences can result in a mental health disorder and substance abuse. Dual diagnosis rehabilitation treats both of these issues together. The best approach for the treatment of dual diagnosis is an integrated system. In this strategy, both the substance abuse problem and the mental disorder are treated simultaneously. Regardless of which diagnosis (mental health or substance abuse problem) came first, long-term recovery will depend largely on the treatment for both disorders done by the same team or provider.