by Sharana Richardson
What do baking soda, laundry detergent, baby powder, mothballs, and ice all have in common? Some interesting combination of home remedies for spring cleaning? Well, not quite. Sure these everyday household products are great for cooking or keeping the refrigerator fresh, washing out the unbearable grass stains in your favorite pair of Levi jeans, soothing a baby’s diaper rash, a repellant for mice, moths, and mold or to simply chill a warm drink; however, these four young adults have other “strange” ideas in mind for these domestic commodities.
“It has to be Arm and Hammer. I can’t eat off brand names. That may sound crazy, but the taste is totally different.” Nicole McDuel is a 23-year-old student at Savannah State University. She majors in Social Work and she is addicted to eating baking soda. This addiction developed about ten years ago, while using the baking soda as an oral hygiene method. “My mom said baking soda works really good when you put a little on top of your toothpaste for whiter teeth,” Nicole says. “After I did, I started to develop a taste for it by itself.” Nicole isn’t the only one in her family who enjoys this salty snack. Her mother, grandmother, aunts and even some of her younger relatives eat it as well. Studies show that genetics play a significant role in vulnerability to addiction.
According to medicalnewstoday.com, limiting your daily sodium intake to between 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams is healthy for maintaining a balance of body fluids, to transmit nerve signals, and for muscles to function properly. Since her first taste of baking soda, Nicole estimates she eats a spoonful at least three times a day. That averages to about 6,975 mg of sodium in one day. “I’ve heard it has harmful effects on the heart and other major organs. I have extreme headaches because of it,” Nicole explains. “It just fulfills an urge for a salty taste.” When that desire does arise and she’s not at home, no worries. She has a box in her bathroom, the car and her purse. Although some family members share the same urge, her boyfriend Delfino Mack isn’t as supportive. “It’s straight sodium. It’s unhealthy to take in that much sodium,” Delfino says. “I try to stop her most of the time, but sometimes I don’t try my best. I’ll never buy it for her though.” Nicole has even tried to quit herself, attempting to shake the baking soda monkey off her back. “I’ve tried to quit plenty of times! But as soon as I seen an Arm and Hammer commercial, it’s a wrap!”
Most people may use laundry detergent for washing clothes, but not Jishanwdra Kirkland. She is addicted to eating Purex washing powder. “Gain and Snuggle is too strong,” she says about other detergents she’s tried eating. Former Savannah State University student and theatre major Jishawndra grew an addiction at the age of 12, while her mom did laundry. “She would do laundry and the smell would spread throughout the house. It smelled so good,” she remembers. So good to the point she wanted to taste it. “At first, I used to suck the clothes right before the rinse cycle,” she goes on. “Then, I just decided to taste the powder. I loved it.” Jishawndra usually dips her finger in the powder a few times and licks it completely off, but when she has a big appetite, she uses the scooper to eat it. “I can’t eat too much. One time, I ate too much and the taste was stuck in my mouth for 20 minutes. It was so bitter,” she recalls. Jishawndra hasn’t sought medical attention for her addiction; however, she has conducted research on her condition. “I read up on it and I found out that my addiction is called pica,” she states.
Pica is a disorder that causes people to crave and eat non-food substances. Pica is mostly seen in young children than adults. Between 10-32% of children, ages 1-6 have these behaviors and it could be a symptom of some mental health disorder. Pica may also be caused by nutritional deficiencies and it is also found in pregnant women. Pica is a disorder that I encounter as well. I have an addiction to eating Johnson and Johnson baby powder. I’ve had this strange addiction for about seven years and I continue to constantly consume it, eating baby powder at least ten times a day.
Jishawndra is aware of the negative health effects laundry detergent can have on her health, so she has quit and been clean for about three months. She now buys liquid soap to wash her clothes, but if you’re doing laundry and she’s around, you may want to hide the washing powder.
Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors. However, a “strange addiction” focuses on people with unusual compulsive behaviors. These range from eating non-food items to ritualistic daily activities to bizarre personal fixations or beliefs. Some individuals even suffer from unique addictions to foods or items they can be allergic to, releasing endorphins throughout your body that can become addictive. You may wonder why addicts continue to crave things that are bad and possibly fatal. The addiction is stronger than their ability to keep their actions under control. An addiction causes a person to want this continuous behavior, despite the consequences.
Strange addictions are just as real as addictions to drugs, sex, or alcohol. Like substance addiction, addictions to strange or unique cravings are also a way to control or avoid pain or distress. The item of choice is often in an effort to self-medicate, instead of learning coping mechanisms to deal with stress. Addictions aren’t always caused by stress or discomfort. People can be genetically predisposed to addiction and addictive behavior. According to clinical psychologist and mental health and substance abuse expert, Dr. Adam Front, addiction is strongly genetically influenced. “All addictions are strange in their own way. As with anything genetic, each individual may or may not get the trait, depending on relative contributions from each parent and their side of the family tree,” he observes.
Dijonay Harris, a 22-year-old student addicted to eating ice thinks her addiction was inherited from her aunt, who also eats large amounts of ice daily. “I was about ten when I started eating ice. I have an aunt who also eats ice a lot, so I basically inherited it from her,” she explains. Unlike Nicole or Jishawndra, Dijonay prefers her ice in large amounts, usually filled up to the rim. “I eat big cups of ice, at least five times a day,” Dijonay says through her constant crunching of the frozen water. She also has her preferred ice she likes to indulge in; “chewy” ice from Parker’s gas station or ice from the hospital. “It just tastes good to me,” she says. Although Dijonay hasn’t sought medical attention for her ice-eating addiction, the compulsive consumption of ice, also referred to as pagophagia, can be a sign of iron deficiency anemia or a relief of the inflammation in the mouth caused by iron deficiencies. Whether it’s because of some type of deficiency or not, Dijonay enjoys eating her ice and won’t be stopping any time soon. “I love eating ice. It just eases my mind.”
Strange addictions aren’t only limited to a tastes, but also a touch or even a smell. Keenen Jackson’s addiction to smelling mothballs began when he was only four years old. “My older cousin tricked me and said it was a mint,” Keenen says. “Actually after that, I didn’t eat them. I just enjoyed smelling them.” Keenen’s addiction is unlike the others; when he smells mothballs, it gives him a sense of “nose-stalgia.”
“It gives me a natural high. It brings back memories of when I was a child growing up in New York. My old neighborhood, my grandma’s old house,” he recalls. Naphthalene is an active ingredient found in moth balls, which can trigger the addiction and can also be very harmful. Inhaling mothballs over a long period of time can result in kidney and liver damage. Inhaling naphthalene could also damage the nervous system, causing headaches, confusion, and nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and sweating. Keenen isn’t worried though. He hasn’t smelled mothballs in years, due to his position as an active duty navy man in Spain. However, that still doesn’t stop him from desiring the smell. “I crave for mothballs whenever I think about them. Like now for instance,” he laughs.
