Top 6 Psychological Effects of Crack Use

These are the most important psychological effects of crack use to understand this drug.

Crack is one of the most widely consumed drugs in the world, but that does not make it a less dangerous substance. In fact, its properties and the way it is absorbed by the body and transmitted to the nervous system quickly means that the risk of using it is very high.

In this article we will see what are the typical psychological effects of crack, and what can happen after using it.and what can happen after its consumption.

What is crack?

The drugs used today are the result of complex manufacturing processes that take advantage of technological advances in the synthesis and manipulation of substances at the molecular level; that is why drugs that are very similar or essentially the same can have very different appearance and consumption properties. This is the case of crack, which is one of the formats in which cocaine is presented, a psychoactive substance that stands out from the rest.This is the case with crack, which is one of the formats in which cocaine is presented, a psychoactive substance that stands out among other things for being one of the most widely consumed drugs in the world.

Unlike the "classic" and most famous version of cocaine, crack is not consumed by air (making the famous "cocaine stripes"), but smoked. Its consistency is that of a compact but fragile mineral, forming a sort of crystals or sandy pebbles. This is the result of boiling sodium bicarbonate and cocaine hydrochloride, which causes the water to evaporate and the crystals to stick together.

As we shall see, crack is more dangerous than powder cocaine, and sociologically its use is more associated with the lower classes.

Psychological effects associated with crack use

These are the ways in which the fact of consuming crack gives rise to psychological alterations.

1. Euphoric state

As is often the case with stimulant drugs such as cocaine, crack leads the user to a state of euphoria similar to the mania of bipolar disorder. They are more extraverted, but also more prone to aggressiveness..

2. Sensitivity to stimuli

People who use crack are especially reactive to any stimuli that lead them to perceive that something has changed in themselves or around them.. For example, a change in lighting, an unidentified sound... They react disproportionately to events to which they would not normally have paid attention.

3. Delirium of parasitosis

Although it does not occur in all cases, it is very frequent that a phenomenon known as delirium of parasitosis appears: the person has the sensation that under his skin there are parasites or elements that produce a strange and distressing tactile experience. This experience is fueled by the fact that the person is in a state of "alertness" due to the stimulant effects of crack.

4. Insomnia

People who have been using crack have trouble sleeping because of their relatively high level of nervous arousal. At the moment of trying to fall asleep, rumination appears, the tendency to think about the same idea many times, or to lose control of the flow of thought, which is accelerated, leading to a state of anxiety.

5. Paranoia

Crack is also associated with thoughts of paranoia, causing the person who has consumed this drug to move very quickly from a state of great extraversion to a defensive attitude, believing that someone may be a danger to him/her..

6. The effects are very fast

One of the distinctive characteristics of crack compared to powder cocaine is that its effects appear very quickly. This happens because when it is smoked, This happens because, when smoked, the substance reaches the brain before. Therefore, the "impact" on the nervous system is greater, and there is a higher risk of death by intoxication.

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Bibliographical references:

• Brownstein, H.H. (2015). The Handbook of Drugs and Society. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
• Kinzie, E. (2009). Levamisole Found in Patients Using Cocaine. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 53(4): pp. 546 - 547.
• Morton, W.A. (1999). Cocaine and Psychiatric Symptoms. The Primary Care Companion to The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 01 (04): pp. 109 - 113.
• Reinarman, Craig; Levine, Harry G. (1997). Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Scheidweiler, K.B. et.al. (2003). Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of methylecgonidine, a crack cocaine pyrolyzate. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 307(3): pp. 1179 - 1187.