Cocaine hospital admissions are spiraling out of control. Latest statistics have revealed a staggering 3-fold increase in cocaine-related mental health hospital admissions over the past 10 years.
Data taken from NHS Digital shows that there were 14,470 admissions to hospitals in England for cocaine related mental health disorders during 2017. Ten years prior to this in 2007, the same figure was substantially lower at 5,148 admissions.
The alarming statistics recorded in relation to the powerful çlass A stimulant do not distinguish between powdered cocaine and crack cocaine. This is due to the fact that tests can only confirm the presence of cocaine in the blood stream and not the form it has been administered.
Middle-Aged Males At Highest Risk
Last year (2017) saw yet another rise in cocaine related deaths for England and Wales. A 16% increase was recorded on the previous year’s statistics supplied by The Office Of National Statistics (ONS). 432 individuals in England and Wales died with cocaine being cited as the main cause of death. Figures also show that the vast majority of cocaine related fatalities were male and between the 30-49 year age bracket.
According to statistics from John Moores University Liverpool, Cocaine use is at an all time high. There has also been a shift in who is using it the most. Cocaine is now frequently taken by young and middle aged businessman of good earning capacity.
Purer Strength Cocaine is Responsible
The official report released by ONS stated: “The National Crime Agency reports that there was a significant increase in both crack and powder cocaine purity at all levels in 2016, including user-level, which may partly explain the increase in deaths relating to cocaine.”
The fact that cocaine strength has become purer also naturally has a bigger impact on a users physical and mental health.
The mental health side effects of cocaine use include:
- Psychosis
- Paranoia
- Depression
- Severe anxiety
- Hallucinations (auditory and visual)
- Detachment from reality
- Panic attacks
The physical side effects of cocaine use include:
- Increase blood pressure and heart rate
- Cardiac arrest
- Insomnia
- Reduced appetite
- Constricted blood vessels
- Reduced oxygen flow to heart and other organs
- Coma
- Death
Cocaine is an extremely addictive and dangerous substance whether it is in powder or rock form. The stronger and purer the dose of cocaine you are exposed to, the higher the risk of harm to your mental and/or physical health. You will also require the same purity and amount again in order to achieve the same high.
Over a relatively short period of time of regularly using cocaine, your body and brain develop tolerance. Once this has happened you will crave more cocaine in order to gain the same initial effects. Addiction to cocaine can happen very quickly. No one sets out to become a cocaine addict; it starts with just trying the drug, then it just happens and is beyond your mental control.
Government Cuts To Drug Sector Is Costing Lives to Cocaine
Whilst a rise in purity partially explains an increase in deaths and hospital admissions relating to cocaine, it still does not paint the full picture.
Speaking of the rise in cocaine hospital admissions linked to mental health, Professor Adam Winstock, Consultant Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine Specialist told The Guardian Newspaper:
“When a rise in people seeking treatment for dependence coincides with drastic cuts in funding and decimation of NHS addiction services it’s a tragedy.”
“There are many reasons for seeking treatment, and mental and behavioural disorders due to cocaine are varied, but the risk of experience of almost all of them are dose dependent – the more of the drug you take and the more frequent you take it, the higher your risk of experiencing them.”
Step by Step Recovery agree that cocaine use is more prevalent today than ever before and that the substantial cuts implemented by the government to local drug and alcohol services means that many who require drug addiction treatment are not receiving the level or the intensity of professional help that they need.
Government cuts are hitting the UK hard at the most critical time. More funding is needed to help prevent deaths related to the misuse of drugs, not less. A third of the UK’s drug rehabs have also been closed, again impacting on the availability of quality addiction treatment.
Closure of drug rehabs, together with addiction funding cuts, service cuts and staff cuts, as well as increased purity and availability of cocaine is indeed a recipe for disaster. Is it any wonder that more individuals are presenting themselves to hospitals when they are in a drug related mental health crisis? They simply cannot get access to the needed preventative treatment or the correct addiction treatment at the time it is needed most.
Private Cocaine Rehab Cost Vs Addiction
Sadly in today’s climate, many people advise that they cannot afford to fund private rehab. At Step by Step Recovery we understand that this is an issue and, whilst we receive no government funding to supplement our treatment, we do try to keep our prices as low and as affordable as possible – whilst still maintaining extremely high standards of treatment and care.
When weighing up the cost of cocaine rehab against continuing with a cocaine addiction, it is important to be realistic in that a heavy cocaine dependence can easily run in to many thousands of pounds a year.
Cocaine addiction inevitably costs more than just money, as with any addiction, it takes its toll on the individual’s mental and physical health, their career and security and their personal relationships with others.
Can you really afford a cocaine addiction but not rehab treatment? For more information on our lifesaving cocaine rehab programme please call Step by Step Recovery direct. Or complete and return our online assessment form.
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