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Strange Addictions

Discussion in 'Other Substances' started by Gin0710, Nov 4, 2014.

  1. Davienna

    Davienna Community Champion

    Interesting, I used to eat dirt and limestone and was told it is because I lack certain vitamins and nutrients in my body. Baby powder is another thing that I grew to love eating and it wasn't to fill me up, I just loved the taste. A cousin of mine told me it tasted really nice and so I tried it and eventually started craving for it more often than not. I don't even remember how and what propelled me to stop.
  2. catherine_sky

    catherine_sky Member

    yes, Ive heard that some people might lack certain elements in their system so therefore crave particular things. Ive posted thread to look at cravings and addictions because this is really interesting. Mine was mouth wash! I have heard of people eating paint. I cant imagine eating baby powder but really love corn flower in milk ! It gives the same gritty feeling in my mouth that the mouth wash did. Was yours all about the taste? or texture?
  3. morganmar33

    morganmar33 Member

    I was addicted to chewing ice. I couldn't get enough of it. I had a preference of ice, like it was a type of beer or something. The ice from McDonald's was my absolute favorite. I really thought that I was crazy and that no one on the planet could be doing anything so weird. I went to the doctor and found out that I had iron deficiency. He prescribed iron pills and the cravings went away. Maybe some strange addictions are related to mineral or vitamin deficiency like mine was.
  4. Damien Lee

    Damien Lee Community Champion

    I'll admit that I've got a strange addiction. I absolutely love the smell of paper, particularly from glossy magazines and brand new paperbacks. Whenever I'm at a shopping mall, I'll always enter a book store or newsagent just to take in the smell. Some book shops even have an in-house coffee shop, the aroma from the freshly-brewed coffee combined with the paperbacks is heavenly. Well, at least it's for me.
  5. Tsky45

    Tsky45 Community Champion

    I think any addiction is similar to others in certain ways. Realizing that you have a problem with an addictions is the first step to breaking any kind of addiction. You also have to find a way to resist the temptation to relapse and fall back into it when your trying to quit. I think if you can break one addiction, you can break another one using similar strategies. Even tho some addictions are more severe than others, notes can be taken from how any addiction has been successfully broken.
  6. doatk22

    doatk22 Community Champion

    I'm sure there are specific addiction centers for things that are out of the ordinary, not your regular drug use. But I'd imagine they'd be hard to find. You might have to go out of state for that.
  7. djolem

    djolem Senior Contributor

    Those are just less common addictions but not strange. For example i found odd that someone can be addicted to porn. Coming here i found out it is quite common thing. I have read an article about some really strange addictions like these :
    1. Sausage addiction, i do not get this one, but it is real.
    2. Drinking blood! It can be poisonous but i guess these people know their stuff.
    3. Ice chewing.
    4. Exercising ( i have this one, i used do push ups while in a hospital with serious condition. I had needles and infusion on, but i still did basic workout)
    5. Dirt eating

    I believe there are more and strange is mild definition, bizarre is more appropriate.
  8. Jasmine2015

    Jasmine2015 Community Champion

    I would say that some people have things about them that make them "wierd". But no matter how common or strange an addiction is, if left alone it can ruin things for you. I remember seeing on TV a woman addicted to smelling baby powder. This might not be a common addiction but that doesn't mean it's not harmful. If you have to hide what it is your doing and it's causing you problems, you might need help.
  9. Jasmine2015

    Jasmine2015 Community Champion

    I had a friend who's mom was just like that. She loved eating ice. The kind of texture she liked was the kind you used for making snow cones. She also has some type of iron problem. It doesn't hurt your teeth to be crunching on ice all the time?
  10. 6up

    6up Community Champion

    I think that any type of addiction should be talked about, openly. Your addiction might be strange but there could be people who have succeeded getting through and now they are living a good life. Just be open and talk out your mind, you will get an answer here.
  11. vegito12

    vegito12 Community Champion

    Sometimes we can get addicted to something and not think about what it can do to the health and our body as it can be depression or stress and trying to escape from our problems, and these addictions may keep us busy and we may think that it is alright to do them and not think of the negative sides. I know some people who would eat ice or like to sniff the petrol at gas stations which can be real strong, and would need to be careful as we can use these addictions as a way to do weird things. I hope people who do these sort of addictions get the help they need and also do seek help from family and friends which can motivate them to make better changes in life and hope it works out for them in the end.
  12. SPR012

    SPR012 Member

    I have known people who show all the signs of addiction, but towards LSD. Long-term abuse can result in some damaging effects to the brain, especially if you start during your adolescent years when the brain is still developing, growing, and forming. LSD can be a very dangerous chemical if not used extremely responsibly.
  13. kgord

    kgord Community Champion

    Yes, I have seen people on TV that were addicted to eating soap and also people addicted to eating small rocks. I think if you are addicted to non food items, a medical work up would be in order because maybe you are missing something fundamental in your diet. It certianly isn't normal to eat non edible substances.
  14. serenity

    serenity Community Champion

    I think for strange addictions they ought to consult a doctor or counsellor for them to be guided to the right path. I remember watching a documentary on TV before that featured a girl addicted to eating her own hair, and a doctor was explaining everything about her addiction.
  15. Tremmie

    Tremmie Community Champion

    It depends on what kind of addiction it is... if it is an addiction to a substance or if it is more of a behavioral addiction. And then once that is clear, one has to consider the substance or the behavioral addiction one is dealing with, but that is just the beginning of a really long road.
  16. kgord

    kgord Community Champion

    I think a medical evaluation would be the first place to start to rule out any defiencies in your diet that might be causing the strange addiction. It could be something as simple as replacing what is missing in your diet with something more nutrtious, and healthy. Some strange addictions are not necessarily bad for you. I think there might be a fine line between these addictions and a compulsion. Some of them might fall under the OCD rubric.
  17. ReadmeByAmy

    ReadmeByAmy Community Champion

    I had already watched some videos showing some kind of strange addictions. But I have no idea how does someone get help with this kind of addiction because I never knew someone who is having this kind of addiction. Well, for those who are in the influenced of this kind of addiction I just hope that their family and friends will be there for them to help and to never leave them until they realized their mistakes in their life.
  18. morgoodie

    morgoodie Senior Contributor

    I would think that the traditional methods of treating addictions would apply to strange addictions as well. You are still addicted and will probably still go through withdrawals regardless of the type of addiction. People still need to learn a different way of thinking and behaving even if it is a strange addiction. I would imagine the reasons behind those addictions would be similar to other addictions like with drugs or alcohol.
  19. explorerx7

    explorerx7 Senior Contributor

    There are so many unusual addictions. Many people don't know of, or don't take notice that type of addiction because they don't seem to have those controversial effects on society that many of the mainstream addictions do. Eating dirt is one of this type of addiction.
  20. Min

    Min Active Contributor

    Pica is fascinating to me, because I don't experience it so I can't understand it. I would assume it's as powerful as any other addiction and (at least until recently?) even more shameful because it's so uncommon so how do you find help for you particular addiction? And while I agree that some things can be fetishes rather than addictions, there are full blown addictions which destroy your health and put your life in danger. Not understanding where to go for help must be such a burden.