Cocaine and Depression: Understanding the Connection and Finding Help
Cocaine and Depression: Breaking the Cycle, Finding Hope with Purpose Healing Center
The Nature of Effective Treatment for Depression and Cocaine
Cocaine is a stimulant drug known for exciting the nervous system while increasing feelings of pleasure and euphoria. Despite its reputation as a “happy” drug, however, many people who use cocaine find themselves struggling with depression after use.
How is it that something that made you so happy result in you feeling so low? What exactly is the link between cocaine and depression?
The effects of cocaine cause temporary happiness by interacting with dopamine and the pleasure-and-reward center of the brain. As you start to come down, this dopamine goes away. This results in the crash associated with cocaine, often accompanied by feelings like fatigue and low mood.
If you’ve become reliant on cocaine as a mood booster, know you are not alone. Many people have gotten stuck in the cycle of using this highly addictive drug – but you do have the power to break it.
Keep reading our guide from Purpose Healing Center to learn more about the long-term effects of cocaine, the link between depression and stimulants, and receive guidance on where to turn when you’re ready to break out of this cycle and take back control of your life.
Is Cocaine a Stimulant or Depressant?
At one time, Columbians and natives of other South American countries chewed on coca leaves to get a jolt similar to what you’d experience from coffee. After it became possible to extract the cocaine hydrochloride from the coca plant in South America about a century ago, cocaine was used in medical procedures for its numbing properties.
Today, cocaine has become a widely used stimulant drug, known for making the user feel awake and euphoric.
Cocaine is a stimulant, meaning it activates the central nervous system. In small doses, it causes the user to feel happier, more confident, and less awake. It may be used to suppress appetite or increase focus. But how does cocaine affect the brain?
Cocaine interacts with the pleasure and reward center. It releases stored dopamine into the brain and instead of allowing reuptake to happen, which happens when nearby cells absorb dopamine for later use, this dopamine sits there. It is responsible for the energizing, euphoric effects associated with cocaine use.
Unfortunately, once you stop using cocaine, none of the released dopamine has been stored. Your levels are depleted, resulting in low mood. Often, you’ll feel more depressed after a cocaine comedown than before using it.
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The Cycle of Cocaine Use and Comedown
If you suffer mood swings or struggle with depressive disorders, using cocaine, crack cocaine, or prescription stimulants is one of the worst things that you can do for mental health. All these drugs have the same effects and temporary high that boosts mood.
Unfortunately, what goes up must come down. And, when you do come down, you’ll likely end up feeling worse than you did before using the cocaine.
Unfortunately, with prolonged cocaine abuse, your body does not have time to regulate dopamine levels. You start to become reliant on cocaine use to feel normal, leading to tolerance and dependence on the drug. There can also be changes to the brain’s pleasure-reward system
This causes dysphoria or anhedonia, an intense form of depression characterized by little or no pleasure and low mood that can lead to suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Mixing Cocaine with Alcohol or Other Drugs
Cocaine is a stimulant on its own. However, it’s not uncommon to use cocaine alongside alcohol, which is a depressant. Combining stimulants with depressant drug abuse is a technique called “speedballing”. Others might consider depressant drug use after cocaine to make it easier to fall asleep after a night out with friends.
Combining the stimulating effects of cocaine use with alcohol, benzodiazepines, synthetic opioids, heroin, marijuana, or other substances might be tempting to help you sleep as you come down cocaine. However, these central nervous system depressants also make mood worse long-term.
Can Using Cocaine Cause Depression?
Depression, cocaine, and dopamine levels are all closely linked. Even though stimulant drug use might temporarily boost your mood, it increases the risk of developing depression. This is evidenced by the higher rate of depression in chronic cocaine users compared to the rest of the population.
Also, with prolonged cocaine use, there’s a high risk of decreasing the availability of dopamine in your brain. Cocaine initially causes a surplus of dopamine as it is all released into your brain. This results in an intense high that can become addicting when you’re chasing something to make you feel happy.
To combat this, the brain produces less dopamine and receptors, making it harder to overcome the low mood associated with frequent use of cocaine. Some people even experience little to no pleasure for several weeks or longer as the brain works on regulating itself. It’s important to reach out if you get to this point, as some people have suicidal thoughts during this period.
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Common Cocaine Withdrawal Symptoms
In addition to depression, there are several other withdrawal symptoms you may experience if you suddenly stop using cocaine. This is slightly different than comedown, as it can last longer. Common cocaine withdrawal symptoms include:
- Feeling restless
- Extreme fatigue without being able to sleep
- Anxiety, agitation, and paranoia
- Mood swings and violent outbursts
- Psychosis, hallucinations, or other distortions
- Intense drug cravings
- Loss of pleasure in life
- Slowed reaction times
- Vivid dreams or sleep disturbances
The worst of the physical withdrawal symptoms usually fade after a week or two, but the mental side effects can last much longer. Attending a treatment program during the cocaine withdrawal period can help you learn skills for overcoming these side effects, combatting cravings, and managing mental health problems.
Other Risks of Long-Term Cocaine Abuse
In addition to the effects that depleting dopamine levels has on your body, cocaine addicts face a number of health problems from cocaine abuse. While further research needs to be conducted, the effects of cocaine use can range from mild to severe consequences including:
- Financial, legal, and employment problems
- Strained relationships
- Anxiety, depression, or mood swings
- High blood pressure
- Problems with sleeping
- Difficulties concentrating
- Chronic nosebleeds from snorting cocaine
- Damage to the lungs from smoking crack
- Malnourishment and weight loss
- Tears and ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract
- Decreased blood flow to organs
- Increased risk of severe side effects like cardiovascular problems, heart attack, stroke, or brain hemorrhage
There is too much on the line to continue with cocaine use, even if it makes you feel good in the moment. Contact Purpose to learn more about breaking free from the cycle of cocaine addiction today.
Getting Effective Cocaine Addiction Treatment
An effective cocaine addiction treatment program often includes medical detox combined with various therapies and skill building. During medical detox, you’ll go through withdrawal in a safe environment. Medication or medical intervention may be recommended to reduce some of the more intense effects.
Professional alcohol and drug addiction treatment reduces the risks associated with severe depression during withdrawal. It helps manage low mood and dysphoria until dopamine levels are regulated and you can feel pleasure again.
At Purpose, each client receives an individualized treatment plan encompassing individual, group, and holistic therapies. You’ll begin to understand the nature of cocaine addiction and your relationship with substance abuse. You’ll also learn coping skills to combat those urges to use in the future.
Through the recovery process, you’ll also establish a structure and healthy habits. All these elements provide important support.
The Importance of Dual Diagnosis
While using cocaine can cause depression, there are also people with existing depression or mood disorders like bipolar who turn to cocaine as a means to boost their mood. You may have tried it with friends, enjoyed the mental boost, and then continued to use the drug to improve your mood on occasion. This is a form of self-medication.
Therefore, depression can both contribute to and be a symptom of using high doses of cocaine. Learning to manage depression and anxiety is essential for overcoming substance use disorders for good.
Reach Out to Purpose for Help With Cocaine and Depression
When you start to rely on cocaine for a mental boost, the consequences for your mental health can be disastrous. While it works in the moment, not long after, you’ll experience a crash that worsens depressive symptoms. You might feel driven to use it again, just to find relief. This cycle is not sustainable forever.
When you’re ready to break free and start your recovery journey, reach out to our treatment facilities at Purpose Healing Center. We offer individualized, evidence-based, and accredited treatment for addiction that can support you as you take the next steps toward a better life.
Call us to discuss treatment options, verify your insurance, and schedule an intake appointment today.
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