Is Cocaine Physically Addictive?
Historically there was incorrect information regarding cocaine, particularly prior to the 1980s when it was thought that cocaine wasn’t physically addictive but new clinical and preclinical research has sought to answer the question “Is cocaine physically addictive” with modern medical understandings of the brain and the way cocaine regulates an individual’s ability to experience pleasure. What is Cocaine? Today we know that cocaine is one of the most potent stimulants. It is typically used recreationally, where individuals place it on their gums or snort it through their nose after which they get a short-lived but very intense high. But is cocaine physically addictive? Is Cocaine Physically Addictive? Yes, cocaine is physically addictive. Cocaine use can rather quickly lead to an addiction because of the way cocaine impacts the brain’s reward system. With regular use, cocaine will increase the levels of dopamine in your brain, which causes your brain to no longer produce otherwise normal dopamine levels associated with healthy and safe activities like good food, exercise, or sex. This means an individual who uses cocaine repeatedly will not be able to experience that same pleasurable response from other activities other than cocaine. This change in brain structure and function means an individual is more likely to use cocaine again and again, trying to experience that same pleasure. Cocaine Tolerance One of the biggest problems with continued use is that physical addiction to cocaine happens very quickly. Cocaine, unlike other drugs, can start to build a tolerance in an individual after a single use. This means you only have to use cocaine once for your body to start developing tolerance. When you start developing a tolerance that means that you need to use larger and larger amounts each time you use cocaine to get the same effect that you got during your previous times. Long term this puts individuals at a serious risk for health problems as well as overdose. Why Is Cocaine Physically Addictive? Cocaine is physically addictive because it increases the release of dopamine in your brain with each use. Under normal circumstances your body releases dopamine as a reward when you do things that help you survive as a species like eating good food or having sex. That dopamine is typically recycled after it’s been released so you get a short-lived feeling. With cocaine, that recycling process, called reabsorption, doesn’t happen. So, not only do you get higher than normal levels of dopamine but cocaine prevents your body from reabsorbing it which means you have excess dopamine floating around in your neural pathways creating even more intense feelings than you would get elsewhere. This feeling of euphoria is reinforced through your tolerance which means that as you seek to replicate the same feeling you end up using more and more cocaine which furthers the damage to your reabsorption processes. Long term these changes can make it difficult for you to feel good doing any other activity and as soon as you stop using cocaine you’ll experience withdrawal symptoms like cravings, irritability, depression, and anxiety. Thankfully, with the right type of treatment program you can overcome the physical aspects of cocaine addiction. Is Cocaine Physically Addictive? Learn to Overcome Addiction with The Differents The right type of cocaine addiction treatment starts with detox to help you overcome those physical feelings of dependence. From there you’ll participate in ongoing programs that help you overcome the mental aspects of your addiction and to rebuild your brain’s natural dopamine responses. At our facility we provide daily schedules for our residential cocaine treatment programs that emphasize a human connection, empowering you to make positive lifestyle changes and to discover your passion. When you are able to find purpose, develop human connection, and gain direction for your life, you can find ways to cope with things like stress and trauma without resorting to addiction. With our residential programs, individuals receive one-on-one counseling and group therapy each week, participating in a variety of exercise programs like basketball, bowling, hiking, yoga, and more. We work hard to incorporate exercise with arts and crafts, meditation and journaling time, movie nights, game nights, and other activities that give our luxury drug rehab a more well-rounded change for the mind, body, and soul.
Is Fentanyl More Addictive Than Heroin?
If you or someone close to you is struggling with an addiction to fentanyl, it’s important that you recognize the need to get help. Fentanyl is significantly more potent and addictive than other substances, including natural opioids like morphine and heroin. The right level of care will include comprehensive treatment and supportive detox programs to get you started on the right track. What is Fentanyl? Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, one which functions similarly to morphine or heroin, which are naturally derived opioids but which are significantly more addictive. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are now the most commonly associated drugs in all drug overdose deaths in America. Fentanyl is a prescription drug that can be used as a pain medication, particularly after surgery or with chronic pain. In prescription form, it goes under names like: As a prescription, fentanyl can be provided in the form of cough drops, patches that you put on the skin, or a shot. When used illegally, fentanyl is often sold as a powder, placed into nasal sprays or eye droppers, and mixed with other drugs like methamphetamine and heroin. However, whether it is prescribed or used illegally, fentanyl is highly addictive. Is fentanyl more addictive than heroin? Has that increased the overdose rates? How Fentanyl Works Fentanyl works the same way as other opioids, binding to the opioid receptors in your brain. These receptors are responsible for controlling your pain perceptions and your emotions. As you take opioids, your brain begins to diminish the sensitivity, which makes it harder to find any type of pleasure or positive emotion from other activities, which encourages the cycle of addiction when fentanyl becomes one of the only sources for limited pain and improved euphoria. Fentanyl can cause things like extreme happiness, but it can also lead to side effects such as nausea, constipation, sedation, drowsiness, and problems breathing. This means there is a higher risk of life-threatening overdose when breathing slows down or stops entirely, something called hypoxia. Hypoxia can cause a coma, permanent brain damage, or death. Is Fentanyl More Addictive than Heroin? Yes, according to the DEA, fentanyl is 100 times more potent than heroin, which means it is also more addictive than heroin. Those who use fentanyl either from a prescription or illegally will quickly develop a tolerance, leading to the need for a higher or more frequent dosing in order to get the same effects. This is especially true if used illegally when fentanyl is more likely to be combined with other highly potent natural opioids like heroin or other drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine. This makes it a cheaper option with higher risks, and if you don’t know how much fentanyl is in the substance you are consuming, it can lead to an overdose and death. Fentanyl Overdoses Overdoses can occur whether you are taking fentanyl via a prescription or illegally. In 2022, there were nearly 74,000 overdose deaths related specifically to fentanyl. Given the high rate of illicit fentanyl abuse, particularly when combined with other medications, in addition to overdoses, there are hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations every year related to overdoses that do not result in fatalities as well as other injuries and illnesses as a result of drug abuse. Getting Treatment for Fentanyl At The Differents, our drug detox center provides comprehensive, luxury treatment for those in need. For a fentanyl addiction, we start with detox. As fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and has such a high potency, the most recommended course of action for your detox is to undergo what is called medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Medication-assisted treatment means you are given FDA-approved prescription medications during your detox to help control the withdrawal symptoms, as well as medications during the rest of your treatment to help reduce cravings. This makes it more likely that you will succeed with your long-term recovery by getting you through the most challenging parts of a fentanyl addiction. Participation in this type of program also requires ongoing therapy, something that you can continue at our treatment center with several levels of care. We provide our clients with the opportunity to move through different levels of care as needed, moving down through flexible outpatient programs like IOP or PHP. Contact our team today for help.
Using Acupuncture For Bipolar Depression
Today, there is a great deal of research focusing on alternative or holistic forms of care that can be used as an adjunct or supplemental form of treatment. This research delves into the use of things like acupuncture, meditation, and yoga as a way to handle symptoms of mental health disorders such as major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. So, is acupuncture for bipolar depression effective? What is Bipolar Depression? Bipolar disorder can present with severe depressive episodes, and for many people, those episodes are treated with medication. However, medication alone is often inadequate for coping with the variety of symptoms that manifest with chronic bipolar depression. The symptoms associated with bipolar depression are the same as those associated with major depressive disorder. At present, there is no cure, and some people might experience depressive episodes exclusively, while others might experience a combination of depressive and hypomanic or manic episodes. No matter the combination, these episodes can present with symptoms severe enough to disrupt daily life and cause significant problems in important areas of functioning like work or school. This is particularly problematic for people who have developed a resistance to current medications. Acupuncture for Bipolar Depression: Studies There are several studies investigating the applicability of acupuncture for bipolar depression. One such study found that individuals who participated in an acupuncture intervention saw decreased depression scores and improvements in physical symptoms with no negative interactions with prescribed medication. In these situations, no changes were made to prescribed medication, but acupuncture led to improved quality of life and symptom management. Other randomized trials reviewed the efficacy of adjunctive acupuncture for bipolar depression over the span of 12 weeks. Symptoms found that all patients had improvement over the span of the study with very few negative side effects and no negative interactions with any other medication or treatment. These studies confirmed the safety and acceptability of acupuncture as a way to manage acute symptoms of bipolar depression. Literature reviews assessed the efficacy of acupuncture for depression, finding that it was generally safe and well tolerated, acceptable as an augmented part of treatment for depression symptoms. While this particular literature review did not focus solely on bipolar depression, symptoms of bipolar depressive episodes and depression are the same. In fact, other studies reviewed the efficacy of acupuncture for mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder with depression, paying close attention to those who had treatment-resistant forms of both. The longitudinal study performed weekly acupuncture treatments for 12 weeks in addition to regular treatment. Findings revealed that physical symptoms improved for things like: Other improvements included: While acupuncture did not necessarily improve all psychiatric symptoms of bipolar depression, it was efficacious enough to alleviate some of the majority of symptoms experienced by patients. This has a great deal of promise for individuals with treatment-resistant forms of bipolar depression who are looking for holistic ways to manage a few, if not a majority, of their symptoms. Starting Acupuncture for Bipolar Depression There are many forms of treatment out there for bipolar depression episodes. At The Differents, we specialize in flexible outpatient programs that allow clients to see the benefits of their treatment in real time, returning home each night to apply the techniques and tools learned during the day. We offer a wide range of evidence-based practices including: With our acupuncture and chiropractic practices, clients who struggle with bipolar depression can find alternative holistic therapies at our luxury drug rehab facility. We work hard to reimagine the rehab process so that individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders can find a holistic program that is most supportive, one that cultivates creativity, and feels as though they are working with staff who not only understand and genuinely care about your recovery. Studies have found that holistic alternatives can prove useful in treating mental health conditions. One of those is acupuncture for bipolar depression. If you want to explore alternative options that can be used in conjunction with individual and group therapy, we are here. Contact The Differents today at (844) 407-0461 to see how our facility can help you.
Activities For Anxiety Group Therapy
When you struggle with anxiety, it often means worrying about the future. This can take away from your mindfulness in the present. It can take support from others around you to help pull you back toward the present moment, and with activities for anxiety group therapy, this is made much easier. What are Activities for Anxiety Group Therapy? Activities for anxiety group therapy are things grounded in self care, mindfulness, CBT and DBT. These activities are things that you can do for yourself and then share and reflect upon with the group or things that the entire group can contribute to at the same time. How do Activities for Anxiety Group Therapy Help? The activities you do in a group therapy session can provide tools and techniques that you can employ outside of therapy when your anxiety gets higher. Shifting Your Focus One of these includes mindfulness and meditation exercises that center on breathing and relaxation. These are active techniques that can be employed during group therapy sessions to help you: Better Understanding The exercises used with activities for anxiety group therapy provide you with a deeper understanding of how anxiety works, what it triggers in the body, and what things contribute to your personal symptoms. You might, for example, be asked to keep a diary of how you feel at various points throughout the day so that you can understand when you are most anxious and what circumstances surround those feelings. During group therapy sessions everyone can have an opportunity to share and come to an understanding of more common triggers that affect the whole group versus individual triggers that affect you one-on-one. CBT Exercises Other activities can include writing activities derived from cognitive behavioral therapy. These might include a Worry Tree. What is a Worry Tree? This is where you take a piece of paper and start with the top of the tree. The top of the tree is where you write down the worries you are having, the anxiety you feel. From there, you branch out in one of two directions, one being whether it’s something within your control and the other being something that is not. More branches come from each of those. If it is not something within your control then you have to utilize relaxation techniques or distraction techniques so that you aren’t focused on it because it’s not something you can deal with or change. However if it is something within your control then you can set up a plan of action that includes what steps you will take, when you will take them, and what you require to do so. Other techniques include Worry Time. What is Worry Time? Worry Time is another CBT activity for anxiety group therapy sessions where everyone learns to write down the things about which they are concerned. Remember that anxiety stems from a real place of concern or fear, and sometimes the anxiety you have needs to be tackled, needs to be thought about and needs to be resolved, but it doesn’t need to do all of those things all day, everyday, occupying all of your thoughts. This is where worry time comes into play. With this technique you set a specific time of day which could be during group therapy sessions where you sit down with the things that are of biggest concern to you and you work through them with things like the Worry Tree. When you have a designated time during the day then when those anxious thoughts come back you can remind yourself that you will deal with them during your designated time but not right now. Starting Anxiety Group Therapy With The Differents, you have an opportunity to participate in a flexible, luxury drug rehab program in the beautiful Tahoe region. With our programs you have access to holistic treatment as well as recreational therapy, outdoor therapy, meditation, yoga, and CBT. A big part of our programs is the group therapy sessions where you can learn to cope with symptoms of an anxiety disorder in addition to substance abuse. These sessions incorporate different activities that help improve your understanding of substance abuse or dual diagnosis situations with techniques that you can employ long after you leave our treatment center. We work hard to offer a 1:3 staff-to-client ratio with a focus on private, luxury experiences that are unlike other treatments. Contact us today at (844) 407-0461 to see how our activities for anxiety group therapy programs can give you the tools you need to take charge of your life.
