In studies throughout Britain, alarming trends are surfacing about the use of illegal drugs throughout the country. In study published by The Guardian in 2014 reported that the number of adults in the country using illegal drugs as a whole increased from 28% in 2008 to 31%, with an almost even division between the number of men and the number of women reporting use.
Other important information from the study indicated that only about 21% use illegal drugs on a regular basis, which would equate to about 3 million people. Typically these are younger adults, between the ages of 16 to 34 if you look at the actual numbers alone. The one startling statistic is that the number actually rises to 40% for those reporting active drug use and also reporting being in social grades AB.
The City Issue
The reason that this 40% statistic is so important for city residents is because social grade AB are those that have higher to intermediate professional, managerial or administrative professions. They tend, therefore, to be located in the major centres of industry, including in London, which is ahub of medical, financial, corporate and industrial neighbourhoods and districts.
The studies are fairly consistent from year to year, showing that about 23% of active drug users currently take illegal drugs on a daily basis and 15% on a weekly basis. And, in 2014, London actually received the very dubious recognition of being the cocaine capital of Europe, with the highest reported concentration of the drug in wastewater testing of any other European city.
Additionally, as reported in the Daily Mail article of June 2015, the peak levels of cocaine in waste water is Friday and Saturday, and then it declines again before the work week. In a survey 1 in 42 respondents in the UK reported using cocaine in the last 12 months, which converts out to a rate of about 4.2% of the total population.
The Reality
While cocaine use is on the rise amount the professional class, it tends to be more focused in professions with high levels of stress and expectations to perform. One of the reasons many professionals find this to be their drug of choice is because of the immediate euphoria that the drug provides.
However, there is always the very real crash that happens afterwards which increases feelings of anxiety, irritability, and depression. With continual use and without help from a London psychotherapist specialising in addiction recovery, the cravings or urges for cocaine can become unmanageable, resulting in addiction.
Some of the physical risks for people using cocaine include:
- Rapid heart rate
- Convulsions and tremours
- Nutritional deficits leading to significant weight loss and metabolic issues
- Muscle spasms
- Insomnia
- Heart attack and stroke
- Seizures
- Respiratory failure
In addition to the physical symptoms the vast majority of patients seeking help from a London psychotherapist for addiction treatment also have mental and emotional changes, many which are just as difficult to deal with, particularly for professionals with high-profile and demanding jobs.
These emotional and mental health changes can include increasing paranoia, increased irritability and angry outbursts, increased general hostility, inability to make decisions, increased risk of depression, hallucinations, panic and anxiety and bizarre and unusual or atypical behaviour.
Treatment for Cocaine
As with any addiction, reaching out for help from a London psychotherapist with extensive experience in drug addiction recovery is essential. Often with the addiction life becomes a cycle of getting high to avoid the negative effects of the addiction, and trying to find ways to continue to be high.
For the so-called “weekend warriors”, or those using cocaine only as a recreational drug on the weekends, the risk of addiction and long-term changes in the brain are very real. It is simply impossible to know if it will take a one or few weekends of use or much longer before the addiction becomes a reality.
Treatment for cocaine addiction is often done as an out-patient service. The London psychotherapist will use a range of different integrated approaches to help to develop more effective coping strategies, educated the client about addition, and to address the underlying issues that may be driving the use of cocaine. Without this last component in place, it is highly likely that the individual may overcome cocaine addiction, but may simply move on to another addictive substance as the cause of the problem has not been addressed.