The Hidden Cost of High-Purity Cocaine: A Wake-Up Call for High Achievers
Imagine sitting down for a pint of beer at your local pub. But instead of the usual effect, it hits you with the intensity of a shot of whiskey. No warning, no gradual build-up—just an instant, overwhelming punch. This is a useful metaphor for what’s happening with modern cocaine use, especially among young executives, salespeople, and other high-achieving individuals.
Today’s cocaine is not the cocaine of 25 years ago. Back then, lower purity levels and higher costs created barriers to heavy or regular use. Tolerance had to be built slowly over time, and access was more limited. Fast forward to now: cocaine is cheaper, more accessible, and alarmingly pure. This has created a perfect storm where even casual or social users can quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the drug’s effects, facing consequences they’re unprepared for—physically, emotionally, and socially.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
According to recent reports:
Cocaine purity levels have skyrocketed in the UK, with average purity now exceeding 70%, compared to around 30% in the 1990s. In some cases, purity exceeds 90%, bringing unprecedented potency.
The cost per gram has dropped significantly, making it more affordable for casual users and reducing the financial barrier to entry.
Hospital admissions related to cocaine use in the UK have quadrupled in the last decade, with acute cardiovascular events (heart attacks and strokes) increasingly common, especially when cocaine is mixed with alcohol.
Alcohol and cocaine together form a toxic chemical called cocaethylene in the liver, which amplifies the euphoric effects but also increases the risk of sudden death by 20-fold compared to using cocaine alone.
Why High-Purity Cocaine Is a Double-Edged Sword
For many high achievers—driven individuals in business, sports, or competitive environments—cocaine seems like a shortcut to maintaining energy, confidence, and connection during high-pressure situations. But the reality is far more dangerous.
The sudden intensity of today’s cocaine doesn’t give users the chance to “ease into” a pattern of addiction. Instead, it can deliver:
Severe side effects immediately, such as chest pain, panic attacks, or significant mood crashes.
Rapid behavioural changes, including irritability, poor decision-making, and strained relationships.
Dramatic value misalignment, where users find themselves compromising personal integrity, work ethics, or relationships to maintain use.
A Paradoxical Opportunity
The very same high purity that makes cocaine so dangerous also creates an opportunity for intervention. Because the negative consequences show up so quickly, they can serve as a powerful wake-up call. For many young professionals, it’s not a slow descent into addiction—it’s an immediate and jarring clash with the reality of their choices.
If you’re reading this and recognising any of these signs in yourself or someone close to you, this is your moment. High-purity cocaine offers little room for denial—it puts the consequences front and centre. Whether it’s a sharp drop in productivity, a damaged relationship, or a terrifying health scare, these signals are your body and mind’s way of saying, enough is enough.
Time for Self-Intervention
High achievers often pride themselves on resilience, discipline, and control. But cocaine’s grip erodes all of these qualities. The most powerful move you can make is to step back and reflect:
What am I sacrificing by using this substance?
Am I living in alignment with my values?
What would my best self choose in this moment?
Acknowledging the issue isn’t weakness—it’s a sign of strength. It’s an act of reclaiming control and recommitting to your goals and relationships.
Where to Go from Here
If this resonates, consider seeking professional support. Therapists who specialise in addiction can help you explore the patterns and beliefs that fuel your use. If you’re in the business world, think of this process as re calibrating your performance strategy. If you’re in sports, it’s about returning to peak condition.
The high purity of today’s cocaine is a sobering reality, but it also offers an immediate mirror to what isn’t working in your life. Use it as a wake-up call to make changes before the consequences deepen.
As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” Recognise the signals, make the call, and take the first step toward a better future.
Apricity, the warmth of the sun on a cold winter day, is a feeling that can bring joy and happiness to anyone who experiences it. For those in sobriety, finding apricity can be crucial to living a rich and meaningful life. Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a powerful tool that can help those in recovery find the warmth and light they need to thrive.
An Anonymous Client Who Introduced Me To The Word “Apricity” – Thankyou. It is a beautiful connection to a feeling.
Mr Good Person
Loving His Rich & Meaningful Life
ACT is based on the idea that pain and suffering are inevitable parts of life, but that we can choose how we respond to them. Instead of trying to avoid or eliminate negative emotions, ACT teaches us to accept them and focus on living a fulfilling life in spite of them. This can be especially important for those in recovery, who may face ongoing struggles with addiction, cravings, and other challenges.
One key aspect of ACT is the concept of values. By identifying our core values and committing to living in alignment with them, we can create a sense of purpose and meaning in our lives. For someone in recovery, this might mean prioritizing relationships with loved ones, taking care of their physical and mental health, or giving back to their community. By focusing on these values, we can find fulfillment and satisfaction that goes beyond simply avoiding drugs or alcohol.
Another important component of ACT is mindfulness. By learning to observe our thoughts and emotions without judgment, we can develop a greater sense of self-awareness and self-compassion. This can be especially important for those in recovery, who may struggle with feelings of shame, guilt, or self-doubt. By practicing mindfulness, we can learn to accept ourselves as we are, flaws and all, and move forward with greater confidence and resilience.
Of course, none of this is easy. Sobriety is a journey, and there will be setbacks and challenges along the way. But by embracing the principles of ACT, we can find apricity even in the darkest of times. We can learn to accept our pain and suffering, find meaning and purpose in our lives, and cultivate a sense of inner peace and contentment that goes far beyond temporary pleasures.
So if you’re struggling with addiction or are in recovery, remember that apricity is within reach. By embracing the principles of ACT, you can create a rich and meaningful life, full of warmth and light, even in the coldest of winters.
Acceptance: making room for painful feelings, urges and sensations, and allowing them to come and go without a struggle.
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), acceptance refers to the process of allowing ourselves to experience difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations without trying to avoid or control them. This involves an attitude of openness and willingness to encounter whatever arises in the present moment, even if it is unpleasant or uncomfortable.
Acceptance can help us expand our range of emotional and behavioural options, as it allows us to let go of our attempts to avoid or suppress difficult experiences. This can give us more flexibility in how we respond to our thoughts and feelings, and allow us to act in line with our values and goals, even in the face of difficult emotions.
To practice acceptance, it’s important to cultivate a non-judgmental attitude towards our experiences. This means allowing ourselves to have whatever thoughts, feelings, and sensations arise, without evaluating them as good or bad. It also involves letting go of the need to control or change our experiences, and instead learning to be with them as they are.
In addition to expanding our emotional and behavioural options, acceptance can also help us to cultivate a sense of willingness to engage with our experiences, even when they are difficult. This involves a commitment to being present and to facing our thoughts and feelings, rather than avoiding them.
Overall, acceptance is a key part of ACT and can help us to be more flexible and responsive in the face of difficult thoughts and feelings, and to live in line with our values and goals.
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), values refer to the core principles and beliefs that guide our actions and give meaning to our lives. These values might include things like compassion, honesty, connection, or adventure, and they are often based on what we care about most deeply.
In ACT, values are not just abstract ideas; rather, they are the foundation for how we want to live our lives. By identifying our values and making them the focus of our attention and behaviour, we can create a sense of purpose and direction that can help us to cope with difficult thoughts and feelings.
To exercise perspective and choice in living with our chosen values, it’s important to first identify what our values are. This might involve exploring different areas of life, such as relationships, work, health, or personal growth, and asking ourselves what is most important to us in each area.
Once we have identified our values, we can use them to guide our actions and make choices that are consistent with them. This might involve setting goals that align with our values, or making decisions that are in line with what we care about most deeply.
It’s also important to remember that our values may change over time, and that it’s okay to revisit them and adjust our goals and actions accordingly. By staying connected to our values and using them as a guide, we can create a more fulfilling and meaningful life, even in the face of difficult thoughts and feelings.
Ever been faced with blank screen panic, empty page anxiety? Maybe you really do want to gain that college course, or degree. Maybe it is a C.V. or a work report. Whatever it might be, it is important to you. It is part of living your rich and meaningful life and is an activity that moves you towards who and what is important to you. In my case it is currently website content. All you have to do is write an assignment, a document, a blog or any other piece of writing that others will see. You know your stuff right? You see others who appear to churn out high quality content with apparent ease! Should be easy right!
Yet, as soon as you get near the blank page or blank screen some of this shows up. (much of it is with me right now as I type this)
Brian Freeze
Light headed
Brain Blindness
Trembling/Shaking
Fast Hearbeat
Hot/Cold Flushes
Sweatiness
Detached From Self
Neck/Muscle Tension
Tingling/Numbness
Unreality
Breathless
Over thinking/whitenoise
The Solution – ACT
I invite you to explore with me how ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy – pronounced ACT) can be used in your life with your struggles or stuck experiences.. This post is an example of learning to use ACT in one my life domains, specifically web development. I will share with you how ACT is applied in context of creating, building, maintaining and improving this website. I hope you may use ACT in a similar fashion, after all, with ACT, the therapist and the client are all in this together.
Avoidant Behaviour
Got a headache, take a pill. Flat tyre? Get it fixed. We are masters of the quick fix, and our minds can always come up with a stategy to fix or avoid a painful thought, feeling or event. However, this does not always work in the long term. Our minds are able to come up with ideas that appear to work, may work for a little while, yet really keep us stuck.
I struggle, you struggle, we all struggle. Is the struggle worthwhile? I really struggle with writing content for this website. It hurts. I can and do avoid this pain by not writing content for my website. Often I do not notice the pain of writing, as already my mind has come up with an instant quick fix, a wandering idea, and as fast as a scolded cat, I am away from any writing pain, and into something else. This could be many behaviours, so of which for me are deciding to do extra research, or losing myself in Amazon or maybe suddenly deciding I need a particular image for the page and then going off on a mission to take and make a “perfect” photo. It is often as not going to the gym, or having to pop out to the shops There are many behaviours that show up when I am faced with a blank screen, blank page and an impending experience. So I act out with (avoidant behaviour).
What do you auto pilot to as avoidant behaviour rather than write that article, that assignment? It is not good or bad, Actual, it in the short term, it fixes me with a big dose of avoidance, yet in the long term, it does nothing to help me to help more people. Then I am stuck. That also hurts, shame, guilt, frustration. I feel I am failing people by publishing a less than excellent website that can not be found when you need me. It feels pretty hopeless, to keep going round and round with the same old feelings that become the same old behaviours. Our minds are often not our friends. So, all of the above is and has been going on for me today. (yet the words you are reading are happening right now for me as I type them. How is ACT working here?)
Woe
Woe, something that causes unhappiness or distress.
I get stuck and hooked with struggles in my mind, that can be seen by actions and lack of action in my world. ACT invites me to Accept uncomfortable feelings, Choose Values, Take Action. The paradox is this. Writing assignments, blogs, reports etc is difficult. Avoiding it is also unpleasant, so pragmatic choice moment alongside harsh reality check. Life hurts. I find that accepting this fact means that I can have uncomfortable feelings and thoughts whilst living by my values, or I can have them be avoiding the pain.
Values & Committed Action
Goals are not Values yet they can appear to be the same. I have goals with my website. It has a job to do. Be found, interest and attract people to the point where they will phone. You have goals with your work. Gain an exam result, a job, recognition, payment maybe. Goals are achievable and quite finite. Values are wider, never ending. My values align my actions with a need to support those with addictions issues, or anxiety etc. Values of helping as many as possible translate into actions where www.redchair.co.uk will be found by search engines, retain readers and help those who are unsure to reach for the phone and call my freephone number. Values quickly become traits, characteristics, ethics, morals, which when placed at the heart of writing for this website, create a very different mental and emotional experience. The anxiety moves from unhealthy panic and anxiety, into ongoing experience of maintaining a great quality website. Honesty in my approach to what I write. Respect to those that would read this. Consistency in turning up for the web site maintenance, development and growth. Right now, I feel quite attached to curiosity, determination, self-compassion.
Contact With The Present Moment
I knew all this stuff yesterday, and last week, and last month. However, this article did not appear, I was so hooked and fused with thoughts that the avoidant behaviour was fully at play. My mind also provided me with loads of stories to appease my feelings. My mind and I danced the dance again and again. What changed, and often needs to change, is the pause button. The ACT mindfulness of breathing around the anxiety. Choosing to notice the 5 Senses, grounding into the hear and now. Then, naming values. Really connecting with values.
I took a moment to centre myself in the Here & Now. All of the anxiety attached to an article, assignment, blog or web page content is I notice under the “You, There and Then” mind set. It is fueled by comparing my work with the best of the net. I it judged harshly by anybody and everybody I can perceive. My mind is at work preventing me from doing what is happening right now, just sitting at a keyboard typing away. Yet, when I accept the unwanted thoughts and feelings as just being present, not to fight with or run from, just to let them sit there, I, we, You, all have a simple choice. We connect with our values and turn this into a behavior that can be seen. Writing, typing etc, or we can connect with the anxiety and panic, acting on all that those feelings can stimulate. We just get a choice.
All our behaviours have consequences. Avoidant behaviour moves us to a short term fix – Short Term Gain, Long Term Pain. Values are what we strive for and committed action in line with our values moves us towards who and what is important to us. Long term gain, short term pain.
In my quest to help you, your families, your friends to find solutions regarding addiction issues, it would help if you knew how I can help, Where to find me, and what I have to offer. So, we must have a website, and this one is mine. www.redchair.co.uk. It is not very good. There are many aspects of my site which are letting me down, and this is my quandary. Whilst the website could be a lot better in helping me to help more people, it is also helping me. The challenge of learning to host a website, to run a server, to create WordPress database, register domain names, setup email servers, create images, upload and transfer files, learn HTML5 and CSS3 etc is something I could pay someone to do. More than one person has looked at me and said, you should not go near the website. Pay for a good one. I get that. I can see how that would be better for search engine optimisation. Also, I am sure it would look great.
Woe is Me, I am me
Got a story of who you are? I do. What is your “I AM” narrative, rules, descriptions. What owns you? Here is a bit of mine.
I am a therapist, a father. We grew up where farming was the career of choice, academic work frowned upon. I am rubbish at grammar. I am never going to be able to write good content. I am to old to learn new tricks. I am not needed in the addiction treatment field. I am not very bright. I am unable to complete written work. I am a failure at assignments and exams.
Hooked into all of that, I struggle and suffer when faced with an opportunity to start writing content for anything. In the past it was college assignments. Currently it is a profile for some websites that keep offering to promote my services.
What are you aligned with, hooked into that keeps you stuck?
ACT looks to help us step out of the rigid inflexible “I Am ” narratives, rules, comparisons. The ACT metaphor is the Chessboard. Often we can align our mental, emotional, spiritual private struggles to a the pieces on a chessboard. We are the battle, the moves, counter moves, defenses, attacks. Every thought we have, experience we take becomes another group of chess pieces on this infinite board or ever expanding chess. We also notice that pieces never leave the board, sometimes charging from years ago to join in battle with the latest pieces on the board.
We are not the fighting pieces, and we can not get rid of them. How about this? ACT suggests that we are the place where the fight takes place, that we are not the fight. We are the chessboard, not the pieces. If you are the board, not the pieces then you have some flexibility. You can keep moving yourself towards the life values of who and what is important to you, or you can dive into the control agenda of the fight, and find yourself becoming the struggle. The fight is there, yet we can take a perspective on that, and be free to notice the fights, yet still do what we values doing. Of course that means that if we are the chessboard, and we move towards our values and goals with committed action, then the fight, the struggle comes along as well.
www.redchair.co.uk or www.theinterventionservice.co.uk are a great big miracle for this recovering alcoholic and addict. I might dig out my school reports and scan them in, upload the images and post them on here someday, and you will see why these sites are quite an achievement for this intellectually challenged individual. (Self As Content)
I picked up alcohol with a vengeance from a young age, impacting seriously on my educational abilities. Drugs did for my career, finances, relationships in a tsanmi kind of way. When I put down the alcohol in 1993, and then a last gasp on the drugs, finally gaining total abstinence in 1995 it was time for a reality check and a reckoning,
This website is a source of great woe for me, bringing up feelings of frustration, anxiety, apathy, pointlessness. [breathe in, breathe out].
ACT for Depression: Navigating the Challenges of Addiction and ADHD
Depression is a common and profoundly challenging experience for those navigating untreated addictions and ADHD. These conditions often intertwine, creating a cycle of burnout, poor lifestyle habits, and emotional exhaustion that can feel overwhelming. But depression doesn’t have to dictate your life. With the right approach, you can move toward a life that aligns with your values and purpose, even in the presence of this struggle.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a practical, empowering framework to help individuals break free from the grip of depression. It’s not about erasing pain or chasing happiness; it’s about learning how to respond effectively to life’s challenges and taking meaningful steps toward the life you want to live.
The Costs of Untreated Depression in Addiction and ADHD
Untreated depression often amplifies the challenges of addiction and ADHD, leading to:
Emotional Isolation: Depression fosters withdrawal from friends, family, and support systems, reinforcing loneliness.
Self-Medication Cycles: Many turn to substances or destructive behaviours to numb the pain, deepening dependency and delaying recovery.
Impaired Focus and Motivation: ADHD already challenges focus and energy, but depression can exacerbate these struggles, making daily tasks feel insurmountable.
Relapse Risks: Depression is a major trigger for relapse in addiction recovery, as feelings of hopelessness push individuals back toward old coping mechanisms.
Physical Health Decline: Poor diet, lack of exercise, and sleep disruption—common in untreated depression—take a significant toll on physical well-being.
Without treatment, these patterns can spiral into a deeper sense of disconnection and despair, making recovery seem unattainable.
The Benefits of ACT for Depression in Addiction and ADHD Recovery
ACT provides a fresh perspective and powerful tools to navigate depression. Its benefits include:
1. Breaking the Avoidance Cycle
Depression often leads to avoidance—avoiding people, activities, and emotions. ACT helps you confront what’s hard, not by fighting it, but by learning to coexist with discomfort. This reduces the grip of avoidance and allows you to re-engage with life.
2. Unhooking from Painful Thoughts
Depression thrives on painful thoughts: “I’m not good enough,” “This will never change,” or “Why bother?” ACT teaches techniques like defusion, where you learn to see thoughts as just words rather than absolute truths. This unhooking process frees you to act according to your values rather than being controlled by your mind.
3. Reconnecting with Your Values
When depression narrows your focus, everything can feel meaningless. ACT shifts attention back to your core values—what truly matters to you. Whether it’s building meaningful relationships, pursuing a creative passion, or caring for your health, reconnecting with your values provides a sense of purpose, even in the darkest moments.
4. Taking Small, Meaningful Actions
ACT focuses on committed action—taking small, achievable steps aligned with your values, even when motivation is low. These actions gradually rebuild momentum, helping you move out of stagnation and into a life of purpose and fulfilment.
5. Anchoring in the Present
Depression often drags you into regrets about the past or fears about the future. ACT incorporates mindfulness to ground you in the present moment, creating space to observe your experience without being overwhelmed by it.
6. Redefining Your Relationship with Depression
ACT challenges the belief that you are your depression. Instead, it helps you step into a broader sense of self—recognising that depression is part of your experience but not your identity. This perspective shift can be liberating, offering new ways to relate to pain without being consumed by it.
Costs and Benefits at a Glance
Untreated Depression
ACT for Depression
Emotional isolation and strained relationships
Reconnection with values and meaningful relationships
Risk of relapse into addictive behaviours
Building resilience and breaking cycles of avoidance
Worsened ADHD symptoms, such as inattention and impulsivity
Improved focus and actionable steps toward goals
Physical health decline due to poor habits
Mindful engagement in healthier lifestyle choices
Hopelessness and disconnection
Renewed sense of purpose and direction
Why ACT is Different
ACT doesn’t promise to eliminate depression—it focuses on transforming how you relate to it. Rather than fighting against the struggle, ACT helps you acknowledge it, make room for it, and still take meaningful steps forward.
This approach is especially effective for those with addictions and ADHD, as it works with the unique challenges of these conditions, teaching practical strategies to handle the discomfort and overwhelm they often bring.
Moving Forward
Depression in the context of addiction and ADHD is a real and painful experience, but it doesn’t have to define your life. With ACT, you can learn to navigate these challenges with courage, compassion, and purpose. Whether you’re in recovery, managing ADHD, or simply feeling stuck, this approach offers a way to live a life that feels aligned with what truly matters to you.
What if, rather than being dictated by our automatic thoughts, every action we took today was mindfully connected to our principles and values of choice?
True mental freedom can never be about disputing thoughts and fighting against them. True freedom is the learned ability to difuse from the content and notice the nature and pragmatic usefulness of a thought. If it’s useful, go ahead and act on it; if not, then accept its presence and pass. Quite simply, you are not your thoughts; you have your thoughts.
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) promotes mental liberation via the practise of a higher perspective and an observant self (called defusion). The paradox is that the less you oppose thoughts, the less they stick around.
Our minds are filled with thoughts, most of which are in service of anxiety, fight-or-flight instincts. Our minds have been evolving for a long time, but they are still lagging behind in terms of modern living. There is rarely any risk that necessitates dread, rage, worry, or paranoia, but our minds are incapable of accepting that rationale. They are preoccupied with identifying and mitigating any risk, even if it is merely an idea in the first place.
To choose to open up to our values in the present moment is a practical, adaptive, and compassionate way of living. We must practice because our minds do not do this automatically.
Values serve as a lens through which to evaluate the effectiveness of any ideas. The basic choice is whether these thoughts pull me closer or further away from my principles. On this anvil of truth, one can act with confidence.
