Light Through the Crack: Life after Loss by Sue Mosteller

In this sense, the effects of crack cocaine were generally described as having a role related to the relief of different sensations considered unpleasant, such as tiredness, guilt, and day-to-day concerns. The drug was depicted as a “shelter from their problems.” The participants’ speech related to “thinking about nothing” suggests the necessity for escape from problems and concerns and the lack of emotional adaptive coping skills. Some studies already evaluated that women are more likely to sustain beliefs related to not being able to deal with intense emotions, using drugs as an emotional regulation alternative (33–36). CCU women that often exchange sex for money or drugs were suggested to be three times more likely to develop syphilis as well as to be victim of violence when compared to men . Crack cocaine use was also identified as a risk factor for trauma related disorders.

What generally first happens is that a positive association is made in the brain between crack use and the initially pleasant high it elicits. This impact of this link, once established, is modified by a number of other factors ­– a person’s environment, their genetic makeup and various other psychological factors. The complicated interplay influences future use and addiction, and helps to determine how quickly they may develop. Crack, a solid, crystallized form of cocaine, is smoked and taken in through the lungs.

Crack addicts commonly lose their family, friends and all social contacts due to their crack addiction. Crack addiction is the only thing a crack addict cares about and the rest of their life simply falls away; every moment is used getting high or figuring out how, when and where to get high. Crack delivers a quick, intense high that can fuel cravings and accelerate the development of dependency.

To each narrative, crafted from lengthy interviews with the subjects, Mosteller adds parallels with her own life and that of her family and its fissures. A crack addict typically has an unhappy home life or other stresses or problems. The addict begins using drugs or alcohol to escape from the stresses of their life. The addict may feel like they are just "partying" but, in fact, they are trying to cope with unhappiness. Since crack cocaine is smoked, it is quickly absorbed into the lungs. Crackproduces a very short high— sometimes only five to 10 minutes long.

Because there, outside, the death passed nearby and not take me.4.6 History of treatments[...]After that I started to go to drug-treatments, being hospitalized... I have consecutive hospitalizations and some short time relapses... Then hospitalized again, relapsed, hospitalized Crack For Life again and I stayed until I’m able. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes.

All participants were invited and provided informed consent to participate in the study. The Informed Consent Form was presented, and the aims of the study were explained to the participants before the interviews took place. The interviews were individually performed by trained psychologists in a private room inside the unit. All interviews were conducted in a single session and lasted ~1 h. This study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the institutions involved.