Sex and Race Differences in Psychiatric Symptomatology in Phencyclidine Psychosis

Abstract

The medical records of 153 psychiatric admissions who were determined to be Phencyclidine toxic were analyzed for the presence of various categories of psychiatric symptoms. Aggression was observed during the hospital stay by 58% of the patients followed closely by bizarre behavior (55%) and anxiety (53%). 116 males did not differ from 37 females in observed symptoms but 112 blacks showed more bizarre behavior than 41 whites. Further analysis indicated that the black-white difference was due to the significantly higher incidence of bizarre behavior, aggression, and looseness of association observed among 26 black females than 11 white females. These results suggest that white females who are Phencyclidine-toxic may not resemble the often reported and frequently observed Phencyclidine-toxic patient who is violently psychotic and paranoid. This preliminary work requires systematic replication.