What is PCP?
The Psychology of Personal Constructs was introduced in 1955 by the (North) American psychologist and psychotherapist George A. Kelly as a new approach to psychology which focusses on the meanings that people attach to persons, situations and events they encounter. These meanings, the “personal constructs” of a person, serve also as guidelines for the actions one takes to cope with the demands and challenges of life. PCP is therefore not just another “cognitive theory of personality” as some have written but refers to a much wider view of the “human condition”. While much of contemporary psychology is devoted to finding general laws of human behaviour (with a “nomothetic” research interest: nomos means “law”) and tries to locate its roots in biology, PCP is more interested in the individual person’s way of looking at life, albeit embedded in the social environment, therefore pursuing an “idiographic” (idios means “own” or specific) research interest.
Phencyclidine (PCP) is a synthetic chemical in the dissociate anesthetic class. It is perhaps best known by the media hype it received in the late 1970’s portraying it as a extremely dangerous chemical causing madness, psychotic reactions, and super-human strength. It is found in a variety of forms including crystals/powder, tablets, and liquid. PCP is used in very small quantities with 5-10 mg considered an average dose. How is PCP consumed? Recently it seems to be available on the underground market most commonly as cannabis joints, regular cigarettes or cannabis leaf dipped in liquid PCP, and usually marketed as something else, seldom as ‘PCP’. What are the effects of PCP? Using PCP can cause Numbness; Cramps; Loss of muscular coordination; Nausea; Involuntary movements of the eyeballs; Problems with speaking; Decreased sensitivity to touch, pain and position. Chronic use will cause difficulty with thought, memory problems, stuttering, depression, anxiety and brain damage. What are
