Addiction - PCP - Basic-Facts-About-PCP

Basic Facts About PCP

Phencyclidine (PCP) was developed in the 1950s as an intravenous anesthetic, but its use was discontinued in 1965, after patients who were given the drug experienced psychotic reactions. PCP is now only manufactured illegally and comes in liquid, powder or pill form.

Street Names

Angel Dust, Hog, Rocket Fuel, DOA, Peace Pill

What Is PCP?

PCP is known as a dissociative anesthetic, because users of the drug seem to be "disconnected" from the environment around them. It distorts perceptions of sight and sound and produces feelings of detachment. Rather than visual hallucinations, PCP causes the user to experience distortions of reality.

What Does PCP Look Like?

PCP is a white crystalline powder that is easily soluble in water or alcohol. Therefore it can appear in liquid form. Since PCP can easily be mixed with dyes, it can appear in a variety of colors in powder, tablet and capsule form. Sometimes it is sold on the street wrapped in metallic foil (see photo) in powder form.

How Is PCP Taken?

PCP can be eaten, snorted, injected or smoked. The effects of the drug can be felt within two to five minutes if it is smoked (usually applied to a leafy material, such as mint, parsley, oregano or marijuana). The method used to take PCP in to the body can change the effects that it has on the user and how long its effects last.

Who Takes PCP?

Soon after PCP was introduced as a street drug in the 1960s, it gained a reputation of causing bad reactions and never became very popular with illicit drug users. Some users, though, like the feelings of strength, power and invulnerability the drug produces. Others enjoying the numbing effect PCP can have on the mind. Therefore, some continue to use the drug despite the negative risks.

What Are the Effects of PCP

PCP can have different effects on different people. The way the drug is taken and the amount used can also change how PCP affects the user. Depending upon the dosage, PCP can have the following effects:

Low Dosage - Feelings of euphoria, relaxation, numbness, sensory distortions, feelings of detachment from one's own body, anxiety, confusion, amnesia, illogical speech, blurred vision, blank stare.

Medium Dosage - Confusion, agitation, analgesia, fever, excessive salivation, delusions, schizophrenic-type behavior, paranoia, disordered thinking.

High Dosage - Seizures, respiratory failure, coma, fever, stroke and possible death.

Since PCP is only made illegally, there is no way to know exactly how much PCP is actually being taken, making the use of this drug particularly dangerous.

What Are the Health Effects of PCP?

Low doses of PCP can produce an increase in blood pressure and heartbeat and a slight increase in breathing rate. Users can experience shallow breathing, numbness of the extremities, flushing, sweating and loss of muscular coordination.

High doses of PCP can produce a severe drop in blood pressure, pulse rate and breathing rate. Users can experience nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, drooling, loss of balance, dizziness and the up and down flicking of the eyes.

Due to the possible sedative effects of PCP, if the drug is taken with other depressants, such as alcohol or benzodiazepines, it can cause a coma.

PCP abusers can become violent or suicidal while taking the drug. Although there is some research that disputes that PCP induces violence or aggression in users, more PCP users die from suicide while taking the drug than die from the effects of the drug on the central nervous system.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of PCP?

Memory loss, depression, difficulty speaking, difficulty thinking and weight loss have been reported by people who abused PCP for long periods of time. These symptoms can last up to one year after ending PCP use.

Is PCP Addictive?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the repeated abuse of PCP can lead to craving and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior, despite severe adverse consequences. Therefore, by definition, it is addictive.

What Treatment Is Available?

Users who are having a "bad trip" on PCP are usually placed in a quiet area or room with little sensory stimulation. Sometimes the user is given benzodiazepines to control seizures or extremely agitated behavior.

There is no known treatment for PCP addiction specifically, other than residential treatment and behavioral therapy used to treat any addiction.

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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

"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

"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

"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

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Decide to make a change
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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

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