Bizarre cravings that appear ordinary
Addictions are compulsive behaviour one cannot do without, which may require medical and behavioural psychologists’ intervention. Nailantei Norari compiles some of the weirdest yet pretty common addictions.
EXERCISE
While most people enjoy exercising due to the endorphins released, some do it compulsively for as many as eight hours a day.
Apparently, exercise junkies can suffer the same withdrawal symptoms as heroin addicts when restrained from exercising.
Cutting off physical activity produces the same trembling and teeth chattering exhibited by drug addicts who go cold turkey, according to researchers.
COMPULSIVE HAIR PULLING
This is a psychological condition known as trichotillomania estimated to affect as many as 11 million Americans.
Those afflicted often experience feelings of tension or anxiety that aren’t relieved until they pull the hair, which gives the individual a sense of relief or pleasure.
In addition to pulling hair, those with the disorder may also chew or eat their hair.
SKIN PICKING
Picking, scratching, squeezing a zit, pulling at a hangnail seems all harmless, right? It is not.
The addiction called dermatillomania or pathological skin picking, involves obsessively picking and pulling at the skin, even if it causes harm like bleeding or scarring.
Some skin pickers use their fingernails and others even use implements such as tweezers or pins.
ALLERGIC FOOD
When you have an allergic reaction to a food, the body releases endorphins, lifting your mood and making you feel happier.
As a result, you end up seeking out those foods in order to replicate that euphoric feeling, a process that can end up becoming an addiction, as you begin to subconsciously associate the foods you’re allergic to with good feelings.
ICE CHEWING
Ice chewing is a crunchy habit that may be an indicator of iron deficiency anaemia.
The practice of compulsively chewing and consuming excessive amounts of ice is called pagophagia.
It is a form of pica—a condition where people crave and eat non-food items that have no nutritional value.
EATING DIRT
Most pregnant women eat dirt and stones, a need that some supermarkets cater to with packaged stones that are ready to eat.
This is similar to pagophagia as it is caused by lack of iron and some other minerals in the body.
The body seeks these minerals from dirt where they are in minute percentages.
TATTOOING
They say tattoos are like potato chips; you cannot get just one. Tattoos are okay so long as one is not doing it due to an addiction to pain or self-mutilation.
Tattooing is often favoured by people with mental problems, especially those who find relief in cutting themselves.
LOVE
Some people just love, with scientists estimating that the number of Americans dealing with a love addiction is between five and 10 per cent of the population.
Being in love creates feelings of excitement and attachment, but addicts become overly pre-occupied and even obsessed with those feelings. One type of love addiction occurs when a person becomes obsessed with a love interest.
These people tend to feel as if they can’t live without the person, and that their significant other is their only source of happiness.
TANNING
Despite the known co-rrelation between sun exposure and skin cancer, there are some people who are addicted to tanning.
A study conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and published in the August 2005 edition of the journal ‘Archives of Dermatology’ found that more than 50 per cent of beach lovers could be considered tanning addicts, and 26 per cent of sun worshippers would qualify as having a substance-related disorder.
COSMETIC SURGERY
In America, more than 30 million people undergo plastic surgery every year. While some people go in just once, there are those who go in repeatedly over time.
The latter group is often diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, which is manifested in scheduling repeated cosmetic surgery to connect both real and perceived flaws, despite health or financial risk.
