OTC and Prescription Drug Abuse Slideshow Pictures Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Follow-up

Follow-up should be as planned in the emergency department or as discussed when discharged from the hospital. Because any addiction involves the entire family, treatment options should be reviewed with the individual's family, and loved ones should be included in any treatment plan if at all possible. It may consist of follow-ups with a drug counselor for therapy, as well as treatment by a psychiatrist, family doctor, internist, infectious disease specialist, obstetrician, general surgeon, and/or heart surgeon.

Since there is little medication treatment for cocaine addiction, rehabilitation, also referred to as "rehab," generally involves mental health and social (psychosocial) approaches. Those approaches often focus of establishing a good working relationship with the cocaine addict, motivating him or her, enhancing strengths, and helping the person develop strategies for abstaining from drug use and reducing their cravings