Is cocaine a stimulant or a depressant? This is a common question with a clear clinical answer. Cocaine is definitively classified as a powerful central nervous system stimulant and a Schedule II drug. While often used as a “club drug” in high-income settings, the public health threat has fundamentally changed. Cocaine-related overdose deaths have increased by approximately 378% since 2003 and are now involved in nearly 1 in 5 of all U.S. drug overdose deaths, largely due to deadly adulteration with fentanyl.
At 90210 Recovery, we address the devastating impact of cocaine addiction. We provide sophisticated, evidence-based treatment in Beverly Hills to help you overcome the addiction and manage the co-occurring mental health challenges that often accompany it.
Most people have heard the terms “stimulant” and “depressant” to refer to different types of drugs, but is cocaine a stimulant or depressant? This question is asked because cocaine can produce a high, followed by a profound crash, leaving people confused.
Understanding How Cocaine Works
Cocaine is a central nervous system stimulant. It interferes with the way your brain naturally communicates with the body.
The Stimulant
This starts with the blocking of key neurotransmitters. Under normal circumstances, your body releases and reuptakes or reabsorbs key neurotransmitters like dopamine. These get released as part of your reward system in exchange for certain healthy behaviors, but then are reabsorbed after a set amount of time. This is why you might get an initial high when you exercise, but then those feelings go away after a while.
Cocaine blocks that reabsorption, so you continue to feel the high from things like dopamine. When dopamine doesn’t get reabsorbed, it ends up hanging out in the spaces between your nerve cells, and this means you have higher levels of dopamine than you would normally get from things like exercise.
The higher levels flood your brain with alertness and energy, increasing your body temperature and your heart rate.
The “Crash”
After the cocaine wears off, you will experience a significant decline in your energy levels and your mood. This comes from the flood of dopamine being reabsorbed because the cocaine is no longer blocking its reabsorption.
When this happens, you’ll experience extreme exhaustion, depression, and even irritability.
Those feelings can encourage people to use more cocaine in order to transition back to the “high” or stimulated phase and away from the crash. The more cocaine is used and the higher frequency with which it is used, the more an individual’s regular central nervous system and reuptake systems become compromised.
This compromise is what leads to addiction and significant withdrawal symptoms similar to what is experienced during a “crash.”
Getting Help for Cocaine Addiction
If you have struggled with withdrawal symptoms or are dealing with an addiction on your own, we are here. At 90210 Recovery, we provide luxury detox and residential inpatient services for cocaine addiction.
We know that every client is unique, so their treatment needs to be too. We offer a staff of dedicated case managers, doctors, psychiatrists, and nurses to provide 24-hour care. As part of our residential treatment program, you have a chance to improve your health physically and mentally with access to:
- Yoga and exercise programs
- Weekly sessions with chiropractors and massage therapists
- Creative writing
- Music groups
Our goal is to show that there is so much more to life than drugs and alcohol, that you can feel safe and connected in a world that might previously have felt chaotic.
So, is cocaine a stimulant or depressant? It is categorized as a stimulant because of the stimulating effect but the withdrawal symptoms are often referred to as the crash, the thing which causes many people to assume cocaine is a depressant. If you have struggled with a cocaine crash or are dealing with a current addiction, we can help. Our treatment center can provide comprehensive residential inpatient care and cocaine detox in one place.
Looking for answers? Call today at (424) 390-7816 to get help for addiction.
FAQs
Is Cocaine a Stimulant or Depressant?
Cocaine is a stimulant, though it is often mistaken as a depressant because it has a significant crash after the stimulating effects wear off.
Which Drugs Are Stimulants and Depressants?
Many drugs are considered stimulants, including Adderall, ritalin, amphetamines, and cocaine. While others, like benzodiazepines, are considered central nervous system depressants.
What Makes Drugs a Stimulant?
The class of drugs that are called stimulants is categorized because of the stimulating effect they have on the central nervous system.
What Makes Cocaine a Stimulant?
Cocaine is considered a stimulant because it stimulates or speeds up messages traveling between your body and your brain. When people first use cocaine, they might feel more energetic and alert, with more confidence. But with that stimulation comes increased agitation, irritability, anxiety, and unpredictable or violent behavior.
Why Do People Think Cocaine is a Depressant?
Many people mistakenly think cocaine is a depressant because, in the days following cocaine use, it’s not uncommon to feel exhaustion, irritability, paranoia, discomfort, and mood swings, but these relate more to the changes in your system than they do to the effect of the drug.
Is Cocaine a Depressant If Mixed With Other Drugs?
The effects of cocaine can be more harmful if mixed with other drugs. Mixing cocaine and LSD, for example, can heighten feelings of anxiety and paranoia, while mixing cocaine with methamphetamines or opioids can increase your risk of heart problems. Mixing cocaine and alcohol can increase significant health risks because the stimulating effects of cocaine can cause you to feel less intoxicated than you actually are, leading to an overdose.
What is a Cocaine Crash?
The “Crash”, often associated with cocaine, typically refers to the feelings of withdrawal. During the first 6 to 12 hours after your last cocaine use, you’ll start to notice the crash, where you deal with extreme tiredness, depression, anxiety, and cravings. Withdrawal continues with feelings of agitation, problems sleeping, lack of energy, and an inability to feel pleasure.
However, with the right type of treatment from our luxury facility, you can overcome cocaine addiction and get through your crash successfully.
What is an Upper Drug?
An upper drug is a colloquial term used to refer to stimulants, things that bring you up or increase your energy. The same type of colloquial term applies to depressants, things that depress or bring down your central nervous system and energy, and these are called downers.
