Addiction is a battle that nobody is exempt from fighting. It has the potential to touch nearly any aspect of your life, usually with unfavorable consequences. What we want to discuss today aren’t the type of habits that normally pop into your mind when you hear the word addiction. Not a man smoking a cigarette, a family mowing on fast food, or someone jittery from heroin withdrawal. We’re going to take a look at some strange addictions that might have you thinking, “Sweet mother of god people actually do that?”

1. Eating Dirt

When someone has the craving to eat something that isn’t a food item, it’s a condition called pica. One of the more common forms of this addiction is the urge to eat earthy matter like dirt and sand. This specific form of pica is referred to as geophagia. This addiction can come from a variety of ailments ranging from mental conditions like OCD to circumstantial ones like nutritional deficiencies. By depriving your body of the nutrients it craves, you are filling up space in your stomach while starving yourself at the same time. I might argue that it is a reasonable alternative to my grandmother’s cooking on thanksgiving however — even the dog wouldn’t eat the leftover casserole (the same dog that eats its own poop).

2. Hyalophagia

Hyalophagia is a form of pica that makes the addict want to eat glass. Some do it as a form of entertainment in traveling carnival acts but others are unfortunately born with the odd cravings. The show Strange Addiction follows a man named Josh, who in his peak was consuming glass 5 times every week.

Some serious side effects that result from this addiction include the slicing of your throat, stomach, and intestinal system as your body processes the shards of glass. Since your body is unable to digest glass effectively, it remains in your system for prolonged periods of time. This can eventually lead to serious waste buildup or a deadly infection.

3. Object Sexuality

Object sexuality is when someone can’t help but to cultivate romantic or intimate desires with objects that aren’t actually living things. While there are many people that have this, only a few cases are extreme enough to consider severely addicted. Of those few, well, things get a little weird. Objectophilia can be for virtually anything inanimate — be it a small personal possession or an entire mode of transportation.

One 28 year old service technician named Nathaniel is madly in love with his vehicle, a ‘98 Monte Carlo. He claims that he can’t go a full day without seeing it or he may get emotional to the point of crying. His personal — and sexual — relationship with the car has weirded his family out but they are slowly learning to accept the odd behavior. I wonder if there are any online dating sites specific to this kind of niche…

4. The Smell of Gasoline

There are many people that claim to enjoy the faint smell of gas when fueling up their car, but some take the enjoyment to the next level. What might start as a harmless enjoyment in a particular aroma can eventually get somebody hooked onto a dangerous intoxicative inhalant.

Gasoline gives off harmful vapors that enter your nose and travel through your body when you excessively smell it. On the show Strange Addiction, they tell the story of Theresa — a woman who has been smelling gasoline out of a small bottle for over 30 years. She occasionally has to get up in the middle of the night just to get her fix of the stench and has since developed memory loss, anemia, and serious stomach ailments from the harmful chemicals. In another episode, a girl named Shannon confesses that she goes as far as actually drinking gasoline. Someone should probably start gifting these people scented candles and take away their vehicles ASAP.

5. Body Modification

This is another addiction that can be good or bad depending on the severity of it. In general, body modification is altering your physical appearance, usually permanently, for the sake of looking different. The more socially acceptable methods are piercings, tattoos, and hair dye, heck I even have a few tattoos — but sometimes people take it to extreme levels…

There is a small adrenaline rush associated with doing things like tattoos that people can get hooked on. In more extreme cases, people have gone as far as self mutilation to search for the next big thrill. They’ll cut their tongues in half, cover their entire body in ink, and even have things implanted under their flesh to fulfill their addiction. Keep your eyes peeled for a body modification article on Strong Whispers in the near future to learn more.

 What do you think about these strange addictions? Do you have any strange addictions yourself? Share your thoughts with a comment below!

Image Credits: alexraths/BigStock.com