Cocaine - How it Works on the Brain

06 January 2011

Cocaine elevates the amount of dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin which are all pleasure elevating molecules. Simply put the brain is so flooded with these molecules that it does not know how to respond to highly elevated and unnatural levels. The cocaine also increases blood pressure and heart rate. These all combined give the whirl, or the high as it is usually called.

Sometimes antidepressants (cocaine derivative) are prescribed to help those who need stimulation, such as ADHD, obesity and narcolepsy. Often many people who are in these scenarios' without doctors help, and others who also desire a stimulant, use illegal cocaine and become addicted because their usage is not regulated.


Cocaine usage elevates the amount of dopamine, the main reuptake inhibitor, and this elevated amount of unnatural levels into the nucleus accumbens leaves the brain feeling depraved. The continued use then causes the brain to change it's neuron levels to have less dopamine receptors and therefore less excitability. This is what makes the user seek a higher amount of cocaine to try to feel the same high as the first high.

When the user is not high, they will feel terrible because their dopamine levels are down to the normal level. The brain has developed a tolerance and does not feel right if the levels are normal, because it is used to the high.
This is what causes an addiction, because the user feels they must use it again to feel good.
Because cocaine changes the way the brain reacts, it makes cocaine addiction very hard to overcome compared to many other cravings.

When the body calls for a physical craving, it is easier for the brain to override the craving and overcome the desire. However, when the brain is calling for that craving, it then really becomes a mental battle to overcome that desire. When someone stops using cocaine, the mental battle often becomes a battle of extreme depression, chance of overdose if they relapse, and suicide.

If a person is addicted to cocaine and their addiction is out of control, they need help to overcome their addiction. There are different avenues for cocaine treatment.

They can vary from at home solutions to in-patient rehab, all depending on the person and the severity of the addiction. Because cocaine works on the brain, it is imperative that others are involved in the recovery process. Help is necessary because it takes a complete lifestyle change, needing guidance and encouragement.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Enterline

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