It’s a fact that there are several weird disorders that we may or may not know about. In this post, I discuss about Pica Disorder (pica- pronounced as “pie-ka not pee-ka”), is disturbing and weird. People with pica disorder often have the cravings of eating things that are inedible.
I used to work in a facility for the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled and I witness firsthand how a person affected by this weird disorder gobble stuff that are uneatable. I and my other co-workers were asked to pay close attention and make sure that the patient does not get a hold of things, because I tell you she’ll gorge it quickly. I’ve actually seen her eat crayons, paper, lint and candy wrapper. I also feel so affected whenever she (the patient with pica) has to use the bathroom, on most occasions I have seen her having difficulty in eliminating her bowel.
People with pica disorder will eat anything, I remember watching a medical series on Discovery Health and one of the stories was about a woman who has pica. To sum up the story she was in the hospital because she ingested a toothbrush and while she was at the hospital, she found two alkaline batteries and you probably guessed what she did next—yes indeed, she swallowed them. Of course the doctors panicked, they were not suppose to open her up because she still have a fresh operation wound from swallowing other things prior; but since she swallowed the batteries, the surgeons do not have other options. In the end, they still have to cut her up and take the batteries out before it creates more havoc inside her body. I hope I didn’t bore you with my random story telling!
I’d like to note that pica is different from hair eating disorder. I’ll blog hair eating disorder called Trichotillomania soon.
Unfortunately, pica disorder also affects those people who are normal. Medical experts often associate this weird disorder to an obsessive compulsion disorder. Some would argue that the cause of pica disorder is unknown, however; there are evidence linking the condition to iron deficiency.
Below is an x-ray image, a person with pica (which to me is a weird disorder) apparently swallowed a spoon.
image source image.co.uk
I’ve also acquired an image from Wikipedia; the image below shows the stomach content of a person with pica disorder.
Let’s play I spy!
If you start to crave things that are not eatable, you might want to seek medical treatment right away. However, you do not have to worry if your craving started after reading this post, believe me I had the same feeling while I was writing this!
My random reminder:
All kidding aside, let’s not take for granted if and whenever we see a friend or a relative ingest something that we know is inedible. Also, if you have kids, you might want to pay close attention to them. We know that most kids will swallow and put anything in their mouth specially toddlers that does not mean that they have a pica disorder, but it’s better safe than sorry. Additionally, don’t be embarrassed if you have this condition, ask your health care provider and have yourself assessed.