This label suggests that the drug can induce behaviors that appear zombie-like, including severe agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, and erratic movements. Excess dopamine floods the brain’s reward circuits, triggering intense euphoria. The norepinephrine buildup also drives rapid heart rate and elevated blood pressure, causing dangerous overstimulation. This article reviews Flakka, its abuse, and its adverse health effects. Research consistently demonstrates that abstaining from alcohol can halt further cognitive decline and help restore some lost memories.
Flakka, a synthetic stimulant that emerged on streets across America, has sparked widespread concern among law enforcement and medical professionals alike. This powerful drug gained notoriety for causing erratic, aggressive behavior and severe health complications. Understanding what flakka is and its effects is important to better understand its consequences, along with how to get help for addiction and mental health concerns. Some complications of flakka drug abuse can happen while the drug user is acutely agitated if they were to harm themselves or others; however, medically, the severe consequences of the agitation caused by the drug appear later.
- One of the finest strategies to overcome the addiction to Flakka drugs is through inpatient treatment.
- The story of Flakka is a story of a brain pushed far beyond its limits.
- Flakka can cause people to act erratically and dangerously, and it can lead to serious health consequences, including death.
- It induces central nervous system stimulation and causes altered mental status in individuals after usage.
Treatments
While that incident was extreme, Flakka addiction is serious, dangerous, and increasingly common. Because flakka’s potency can spark life-threatening complications (high fever, heart issues), using this drug can lead to emergency room overcrowding. Flakka is a synthetic substance that has earned sensational nicknames like the “zombie drug.” However, there’s a lot more to it regarding its chemistry, effects, and impact on the community. Flakka users may experience issues with memory, learning, and decision-making abilities despite discontinuing use of the drug.
Flakka creates powerful addiction patterns through its intense effects on dopamine systems in the brain. The drug prevents dopamine reuptake, flooding the brain with this pleasure chemical. The intense euphoria followed by severe crashes leads to compulsive drug use patterns. This Schedule I drug can create both psychological and physical dependence, often requiring professional addiction treatment and medical detox for recovery.
What are the Effects of Flakka?
The good news is that with sustained abstinence, intensive therapy, and a healthy lifestyle, the brain can heal significantly. Many people go on to live full, productive, and happy lives after Flakka addiction. Flakka affects your brain by overstimulating different areas tied to your mood, alertness, and behaviors. However, if the users fall into patterns of drug abuse, the long-term effects on your brain chemistry and your body can prove catastrophic. Despite its street-level reputation as a “zombie drug,” it’s primarily a chemical cousin of other stimulants like amphetamines and “bath salts,” with a high risk of severe side effects. Long-term flakka use may result in psychosis or other serious mental health disorders that severely impair an individual’s daily functions and require ongoing medical treatment.
When you feel ready or just want someone to speak to about therapy alternatives to change your life call us. Even if we cannot assist you, we will lead you to wherever you can get support. Rehabilitation programs typically last 30 days or longer, and they may involve individual therapy, group therapy, and other therapeutic activities. With the right treatment plan in place, you can overcome flakka addiction and regain control of your life. It also increases heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to cardiovascular problems.
Flakka is a dangerous drug, and seeking help is crucial if you suspect someone is using it. If you or someone you know needs assistance, consider reaching out to a professional or a helpline. The severity of stimulant use disorder varies widely, with some experiencing mild symptoms while others face severe, life-altering challenges.
Understanding Addiction
If you’re seeking assistance with your rehab journey, reach out to a We Level Up TX treatment professional today. JourneyPure Emerald Coast is located just off scenic route 30A in Panama City Beach, FL. JourneyPure Emerald Coast is the southeast’s leading destination for treating dual-diagnosis addiction, We put our focus on restoring total-wellness– allowing you to relax and reconnect with yourself and those closest to you.
Despite its potential to cause euphoria and temporary feelings of invincibility, Flakka can also cause dangerous changes in brain chemistry leading to anxiety, depression, psychosis and even death. It is similar to other drugs in the same class, such as cocaine and methamphetamines. Flakka use can cause a range of short- and long-term effects, both mental and physical. Depending on the severity and duration of use, there can be lasting cognitive or psychological effects.
Overcoming Flakka Addiction With Silver Pines Treatment Center
One effective technique for treating addiction in patients is cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. Patients who receive cognitive behavioral therapy are trained to identify negative self-perceptions, which can act as relapse triggers, as well as circumstances that may entice them to use the Flakka drug once more. Upon acknowledging this, individuals can create coping mechanisms to eliminate thoughts of relapse and steer clear of alluring circumstances. This type of treatment gives clients a sense of agency and accountability, which is crucial for maintaining motivation and permanently removing the Flakka drug from their lives. Long-term effects of flakka use include sleep problems, anxiety, depression, and weight loss.
How Does Flakka Affect Your Brain?
- Think of it as the most aggressive and unpredictable member of a very dangerous family.
- New synthetic drug structures have new properties and thus create unique behavioral characteristics during intoxication.
- People on Flakka are also at risk of permanent harm caused by their excited delirium state, which can cause them to perform physical feats or irreversible self-harm acts.
- Flakka is infamous for causing extreme physical and psychological effects, especially in people with co-occurring disorders.
- This powerful drug gained notoriety for causing erratic, aggressive behavior and severe health complications.
Law enforcement and community activists were instrumental in limiting the damage done by the drug’s dangerous effects. Most reports of flakka after 2016 turned out to be other similar chemicals in the bath salt family. Flakka was added to the Schedule I list in 2014 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This was part of an effort to curb the abuse of synthetic drugs, which were becoming increasingly popular and causing significant health issues.
The drug can also damage the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to cardiovascular problems. In the short term, flakka use how does flakka affect your brain can cause agitation, paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations. Flakka can also cause hyperthermia, or an abnormally high body temperature. This can lead to organ damage or failure, as well as seizures and death.
However, dopamine depletion or receptor damage can lead to crashes, depression, or psychosis over time. Get a free Flakka drug addiction treatment insurance check without any obligation. It takes dedication, tenacity, and a solid support network to overcome addiction to Flakka drugs, which is ultimately a lifelong process. New synthetic drug structures have new properties and thus create unique behavioral characteristics during intoxication. JourneyPure Emerald Coast follows the medical model of addiction tailoring individualized, evidence-based treatment plans for each patient.
Flakka was also very inexpensive, costing as little as $5 for a dose. This caused people most at risk, poor desperate drug addicts and homeless people, to use it instead of more expensive drugs like cocaine or methamphetamines. Internationally, the legal status of flakka varies by country, but many countries have taken steps to control its use due to its dangerous effects. Our mission is to transform lives damaged by addiction through individualized treatment tailored to your success for lasting recovery. By preventing cells from reabsorbing dopamine and norepinephrine, flakka prolongs the “rush” effect. Boca Recovery Center is here to provide the best quality care in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.
Considered a designer drug and part of the class of new psychoactive substances (NPS), Flakka (alpha-PVP) mimics the amphetamine-like stimulant effects of the khat plant. Flakka can have a wide range of long-lasting effects on your body and brain that you did not expect when you first started taking the drug. Physical issues such as muscle damage, kidney failure, liver failure, and heart attacks are some of the most common.
