{"id":1638,"date":"2011-02-08T11:35:27","date_gmt":"2011-02-08T15:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/ombs\/?p=1638"},"modified":"2011-02-08T11:35:27","modified_gmt":"2011-02-08T15:35:27","slug":"reality-televisions-pica-craze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/2011\/02\/08\/reality-televisions-pica-craze\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality Television&#039;s Pica Craze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"addthis_button\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4bb6bcc8320e5dd9\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It seems that TLC\u2019s latest tactic to garner higher ratings is by the exploitation of those suffering from pica, a disease where people feel the compulsion to eat things that are not food.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_kdTZK3-fcY\">See a video here: Kesha has an &#8220;addiction&#8221; to eating toilet paper!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy Strange Addiction\u201d features a number of people with obsessions ranging from odd to dangerous, and\u00a0 a good third of the participants this season are clearly, to anyone who has taken an Abnormal Psychology class, suffering from pica. So far this season, people consumed toilet paper, household cleanser, detergent and soap, couch cushions, and glass. On a recent episode a man even swallowed bullets.<\/p>\n<p>Pica is a serious condition. It can lead to the abnormal ingestion of dangerous chemicals, nutritional deficiencies, blockages in the digestive tract, tears in the intestines, and infections.<\/p>\n<p>One featured addict, Crystal, ingested the household cleaner <em>Comet <\/em>for 30 years. After an inevitable trip to the dentist, she was informed that the majority of her teeth had eroded&#8211; even at the root. Crystal\u2019s dentist said her condition was the equivalent to a \u201cmeth mouth.\u201d Restoring her teeth took months of dental surgery totaling over $20,000.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/simply-showbiz.com\/images\/my-strange-addiction.jpeg\" alt=\"Crystal from \" width=\"189\" height=\"252\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Pica is typically a childhood occurrence\u00a0 usually lasting\u00a0 a few months, but those featured on this show are adults and they clearly need help. The producers of \u201cMy Strange Addiction\u201d\u00a0 claim to help those featured on the show seek help. Every participant is encouraged to attend intensive therapy because behavioral counseling is the most widely used treatment for this\u00a0 incurable disease.<\/p>\n<p>Staying in therapy after the filming of the show ends is not obligatory. At the end of Episode 3, Crystal\u2019s chances of remaining in therapy seemed slim. Her disorder stems from her difficult childhood that started with sexual abuse. Her problem\u00a0 needs serious attention, and should not to be featured as some sort of novelty on a reality TV show.<\/p>\n<p>If \u201cMy Strange Addiction\u2019s\u201d producers worked to ensure that the sufferers on the show committed themselves to a therapy plan, it might be acceptable to have a show of this nature. The way the program is currently set up, those involved with \u201cMy Strange Addiction\u2019s\u201d production are no longer simply innocent bystanders. There may be no law saying that when you see someone in trouble you are supposed to help them, but this is not a political issue; it\u2019s a moral one. The creators of this program are\u00a0 morally obligated to help these ill individuals instead of solely using them to make money.<\/p>\n<p>Works Cited:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Health\/MindMoodNews\/strange-addiction-tlc-highlights-bizarre-obsessive-behavior\/story?id=12467162&amp;page=2\">My Strange Addiction Focuses on Unusual Obsessive Behavior<\/a> &#8211; ABC News<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.webmd.com\/mental-health\/mental-health-pica\">Mental Health and Pica<\/a> &#8211; WebMD<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.myfoxdetroit.com\/dpp\/news\/local\/dentist-helps-metro-detroit-woman-who-ate-comet-cleanser-20110105-wpms\">Dentist Helps Metro Detroit Woman Addicted to Comet Cleaner<\/a> &#8211; Fox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems that TLC\u2019s latest tactic to garner higher ratings is by the exploitation of those suffering from pica, a disease where people feel the compulsion to eat things that are not food. See a video here: Kesha has an &#8220;addiction&#8221; to eating toilet paper! \u201cMy Strange Addiction\u201d features a number of people with obsessions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[591],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ombs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}