ATTEMPTED SUICIDE OF HIP HOP STAR, HOUSTON

In light of the attention garnered by the news of an attempted suicide by Hip Hop star Houston, whose hit song "I Like That", featuring Chingy and Nate Dogg, scorched the music charts, Mental Health Therapist and Personal Advisor to the Stars Terence McPhaul states, "if all in the matter is true as described, it could be that Houston experienced a drug induced psychosis, and therefore, was unaware of the acts in which he was reported to have engaged."

McPhaul, who has provided therapy to numerous celebrities added, "this would not diminish the significance of other conditions such as Bi-Polar Disorder or Depression that Houston was reported to have experienced earlier, the end result can be the same (i.e. the individual may engage in self-destructive behavior)."

McPhaul, a former Chemist and author of "The Celebrity Psyche" and "The Psychology of Hip Hop", points out that PCP or Phencyclidine both depresses and stimulates the Central Nervous System. "It is common for consumers of the substance to live a variety of sensations including dissociation (feeling outside of one's
body/taking on another personality), loss of pain senses, hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia, feelings of weightlessness or floating", cites McPhaul. One is prone to experience
auditory and visual experiences, similar to that of LSD. Marijuana, commonly used and promoted as a staple of the Hip Hop industry, is sometimes sprinkled or laced with PCP.

McPhaul, who has appeared as a Mental Health expert for Court TV and Bill O'Reilly's The O'Reilly Factor cautions, "sometimes the individual consuming the substance is unaware until they come to know its insidious effects." McPhaul adds, "those in charge, and those who care about Houston should be asking more questions, as all of the reports from individuals close to the situation do not appear plausible."