Pica is a psychological disorder that causes a strong desire to consume non-food items, such as dirt, glass, or hair. The phenomenon was first described by Hippocrates, and is usually found most often in children, though they usually grow out of it. Occasionally, adults are also diagnosed with the disorder, though genuine cases can be difficult to identify. The disorder can have a lot of unpleasant consequences, including stomach ulcers, intestinal blockages, kidney failure, and internal bleeding.
Rapunzel Syndrome
Pica has many different sub-categories, depending on the substance being consumed. Rapunzel Syndrome is used to refer to people who are compelled to eat hair, known medically as trichophagia. The compacted material forms an object called a bezoar, which is normally only removable by surgery. Many medical museums have such curiosities in their collections, as the advent of modern surgical techniques meant that doctors were better able to identify and remove the foreign objects.
Though rare, modern cases do still present themselves. In 2015, a 23 year old woman had a hairball weighing a massive 14 lbs removed from her stomach, after she had been plucking and eating her own hair for around seven years.
The Human Pincushion
In 1825, a doctor from Copenhagen described a highly unusual case of a patient suffering from some form of delirium. After a few days of feverish gibbering, he states that small lumps began to appear all over the patient’s body. The doctor incised it, expecting to draw out blood and puss, but was instead confronted by a handful of sewing needles! In total, he removed over 400 needles from numerous lumps, after which the patient apparently recovered. The most likely explanation is that the patient had been eating the needles, as small sharp objects like this tend to perforate the stomach and migrate all over the body. The body’s immune response would have rejected the needles, forcing them out wherever it could, resulting in the lumps the doctors found.
Aiding Digestion
Another historical occurrence of apparent pica was observed among the slave population in Georgia during the 1800s, where it was noted that they would often eat white clay known as kaolin. Though at first written off as unexplainable behaviour, later studies showed that kaolin actually contains a mineral that can treat diarrhoea and other abdominal ailments, and the mineral later became the active ingredient in many commercial medicines. Therefore, what appeared to be an irrational act actually turned out to be a perfectly sensible course of action in a case where there was little to no access to proper medical care.
Consumption and Consumerism
Genuine cases of pica in adults can be difficult to identify, as the desire to eat inedible objects is often the result of other psychological disorders. Additionally, tv shows such as ‘My Strange Addiction’ and internet phenomenons like the ‘Tide Pod Challenge’ have increased the temptation for people to eat strange things for their ‘five minutes of fame’. People genuinely suffering from pica can face ridicule and misdiagnoses, meaning that the prevalence of real cases may be higher than realised as people may be unwilling to seek medical advice.
Sources and Further Reading
http://psychiatriapolska.pl/uploads/images/PP_3_2016/ENGver497Michalska_PsychiatrPol2016v50i3.pdf
Morris, T., The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and other Curiosities from the History of Medicine, (2018)