phencyclidine-induced hallucination

   Phencyclidine is known under many names, including angel dust, angeldustine, and rocket fuel. The term is a truncation of the chemical name 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine. Abbreviated to PCP, it is classified as a dissociative anaesthetic with hallucinogenic and other neurotoxic properties. Its effects on the CNS are attributed to the joint action of NMDA receptor antagonism, dopamine receptor agonism, and the inhibition of the reuptake of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and other neurotransmitters. PCP was first synthesized in 1926 and tested as a surgical anaesthetic during the 1950s. In 1963 it was marketed as Sernyl (a name reportedly derived from serenity) and in 1967 as a veterinary anaesthetic as Sernylan, but in both cases the adverse side effects prompted the pharmaceutical company to immediately withdraw the substance from the market. As a street drug, PCP is taken orally, intravenously, rectally, vaginally, and through smoking or snorting. Its effects are dose dependent. Especially in higher doses, the effects include * hyperacusis, * auditory hallucinations (and less commonly hallucinations in any of the other sensory modalities), *metamorphopsias, feelings of weightlessness, * flashbacks, delusions, mania, *delirium, disorientation, *body schema illusions, and * out-of-body experiences. Occasionally, the use of PCP may entail a phencyclidine-induced psychotic disorder, a condition which may be indistinguishable from major psychotic disorders such as * schizophrenia. Severe intoxication may result in catatonia, a * twilight state, coma, convulsions, and death.

   References

   Rudgley, R. (1998). The encyclopaedia of psy-choactive substances. London: Little, Brown and Company.

   Tong, T.G., Benowitz, N.L., Becker, C.E., Forni, P.J., Boerner, U. (1975). Phencyclidine poisoning. Journal ofthe American Medical Association, 234, 512-513.