Addiction - PCP - Health-Effects

Health Effects

The main health problems with this drug are to do with its potential to give you a bad trip. The effects can give you long-term psychological trauma especially if you are depressed or worried before you use it.

This is the classic 'think you can fly' drug. People on PCP have been known to leap to their deaths and to drown in pools.

Bad Trips and After shocks

Users of all types of hallucinogens sometimes speak of having a "bad trip," or a very negative nightmarish experience with the drug. Anyone using PCP is at significant risk of having a bad trip. Reactions can include intense fear and panic, paranoia, delirium, and feelings of being cut off from one's own body and from reality in general. The most likely candidates for bad trips are people who have previously experienced them or people who do not realize they are taking PCP. Those taking a very impure product or an extremely large dose are also at great risk for a bad trip. Such experiences can cause lasting psychological problems.

Regular use of PCP leads to many physical and mental health problems, including loss of memory, depression, mood disorders, difficulty forming thoughts and speaking, weight loss, rage, and suicidal thoughts. The "memory loss and depression may persist for as long as a year after a chronic user stops taking PCP," according to the "Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs" report. Some researchers suggest that the long-term problems with memory, speech, and thought may be caused by small strokes brought on by PCP use. The effects of the drug greatly increase the likelihood of a stroke. It causes blood vessels in the brain to constrict, or get smaller, while simultaneously sparking a dangerous rise in blood pressure.

People who use PCP can experience "aftershocks." These events are similar to the flashbacks that sometimes occur in users of LSD and other hallucinogens. An aftershock can hit weeks or even months after a user's last dose of PCP. Plus, it can happen to someone who has taken the drug only once. In an aftershock, some or all of the drug's effects are felt again, even though no fresh dose was taken. This occurs because PCP can be stored in the body in areas such as the liver and brain that are high in fat. The stored PCP can be released from these areas by chemical changes in the body that occur due to stress, fatigue, exercise, or the use of certain drugs.

Additional Dangers

If a pregnant woman takes PCP, the drug will pass from her bloodstream into the baby's system. A baby whose mother was addicted to PCP may show signs of withdrawal from the drug soon after birth. These symptoms include irritability, nervousness, and muscle tension. Babies who are breast-fed are also at risk if their mothers use PCP. The drug will quickly pass into the mother's milk and be transmitted to the child when it nurses.

Reactions with Other Drugs or Substances

PCP is a powerful and dangerous drug when used alone. Among hard-core drug users, however, PCP is often used along with other drugs, both legal and illegal. Popular "club drugs" such as ecstasy and ketamine are closely related to PCP and are sometimes taken with it. The combination intensifies the effects of each of the drugs taken. PCP forms an especially deadly mixture when taken with sedatives, or depressants, such as alcohol, nitrous oxide, and tranquilizers. A user's body can quickly become overwhelmed by the onset of a double sedative effect, and the chance of an overdose increases dramatically. Overdose symptoms in such cases would involve seizures, convulsions, coma, and respiratory failure.

PCP is often applied to marijuana or used along with marijuana. PCP may interact with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, to produce a more intense and dangerous high.

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The Have I Got A Problem website is a free online resource to help people better understand any issues or concerns they may have about mental health or addiction. The website includes resources specifically focused to; general Mental Health, Depression, Stress, Anxiety, Insecurities, Self-harm Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Anger Management, Eating Disorders, Coping, general Addiction, Alcohol, Smoking, Gambling, Drugs, Cocaine, Heroin, Marijuana (Cannabis) Ecstasy, PCP, Mephedrone, Ketamine & Crystal Meth.

The site was created to give the public information to help them understand mental health and addiction issues and to assist people in making better informed decisions about their life and personal choices.

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Quotes

"Availability of the drug started lowering and lowering and after a while had to start making my own. I was so addicted I took the risk of blowing my house up (which at the time included my ex-wife and son)."

Harold

"I don't miss the fact that now when my lips move it is more than likely I am actually telling the truth."

Jane S

"I don't miss the fear that arose when I'm driving my car every time a police car hovers into view."

Steven

"My lowest point was when I realised I was stealing money from my daughters Christmas presents to fund my habit."

P. Gomez

"That's what made me think of stopping my drug habits - My Blood pressure spiked at 200/110 last week during a Panic Attack."

Maria

"Anyone being faced with the reality that their addiction needs to be conquered and their life will change is going to be scared."

Fatima

"You need to realize that the little voice in your head telling you to use is your own."

Maya

"Find out why you use, find out your triggers, and take it day by day. Any day clean is better than any day you’ve been high."

Ivan

"My goal in life wasn't living...it was getting high. I was falling in a downward spiral towards a point of no return"

John

"I ended up homeless and on the streets, living and sleeping in a cardboard box, begging and struggling to find ways to get my next meal."

Ben

"Now I see how important it is for me to be in control of every part of me. Today my body is being controlled by me. I am in the driver’s seat, and I’m driving with happiness."

Nathan

"Little did I know that my mom was upstairs crying every night that I came home late, crying because she was scared for my survival."

Nick

"I felt out of control and terrified after I take PCP. I kept on seeing people jumping about around me, screaming at me. I felt sick for days."

Tim

"I was using PCP and I got addicted to it for five years. I just could not shake it off."

Irene

"I felt so bad I suggest nobody does this ever! It sucks! I almost died!"

Alex

"I must warn that you shouldn't do too much of it in a little amount of time. That's how one of my friends ended up in a mental institution. So be careful with PCP."

Kyle

"We smoked the dip and I flipped out. I was hollering and screaming at the top of my lungs in pure agony. It was a very physical pain and at first I thought I was dying."

Anonymous

"The next thing I remember is the next morning, not waking up, not wondering what the hell happened, but simply staring at the wall. I am alive today, I don't plan on trying PCP again."

Anonymous

"The most important thing a family can do for someone who is abusing PCP is to get the person to an effective drug rehab program immediately and ensure they get all the way through the program"

Dr Jurgen Fleisch

"Phencyclidine was heavily abused at one time but between the late 1980s and 1990s PCP abuse started to decrease. Today the abuse of PCP has come back and the abuse is increasing"

Matthew Szota PhD

"It is mostly young people who abuse this drug, such as teens in high school or young adults."

Matthew Szota PhD

"Eventually, I started living in the park and my daughter would bring me food. That was really the bottom. I started selling drugs to survive. I got raped. I got beaten up. My life was incredibly dangerous."

Irene

"The first time I tried PCP, I black out. My friends tried to help me, but I kept falling and hitting my head."

Ashley

"Is PCP addictive? I don't know. But I can tell you this much: it's not worth finding out."

Silvia

More Send us your Quotes

Tips & Hints

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Follow through with counseling

Stattistics say the longer you can engage in formal treatment the better your chances. Your therapists and counselors will be the main ...

Find New Behaviors

This is something that many addiction counselors will focus on, but what are you going to do when it should have been the time for your...

Never Give Up!

This concept is as old as the hills but it has been proved to work! A recovering addict is an individual who cannot afford to give up. ...

Keep yourself Occupied

Many recovering addicts often find it hard not to go back to their old lifestyles, but the one thing that can help greatly is to keep y...

Avoid putting oneself in the company of PCP

This means avoiding friends and even family members who will use it in front of you. It also means avoiding environments where the use ...

Take One Day at a Time

If you are becoming so frustrated that you're feeling like you just want to have that one last taste of PCP, stop before you get there!...

Get professional help

It is important that you go to detox for PCP withdrawal to help you cleanse you body of the drug. Receiving treatment for PCP addiction...

Let your Family Know

Many recovering addicts choose not to tell their families, but these are the first people that you should tell. They will help you get ...

Exercise

You’ll feel better, you’ll sleep better, you’ll crave less and your health will improve....

Eat well

Good for your health all round. A healthy body is much more able to quit than a strung out, starving one....

Water

Drink plenty of water. Flush the toxins from your system....

Let People Know

You’re in for a rough couple of weeks so make sure people know where you are and what’s wrong with you before they get the wrong id...

Remember Time

After you have gotten out of the addiction and recovery center you may be frustrated with the thoughts of PCP that are plaguing your mi...

Forgive yourself if you feel you made a mistake by trying PCP

If you don't make mistakes in life, how will you learn? Accept your mistakes and don't be hypocritical when you see people around you m...

Avoid further encounters

You should avoid the person who offered PCP at all costs. It would also be advisable to avoid the place where you were encountered....

Be aware that your mind will try to trade one dependency for another

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Think about the "happy ending"

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Medication

Utilize temporary medications prescribed by a doctor that can help relieve the withdrawal symptoms and sometimes reduce the cravings th...

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