14 DAY TRIAL // Addiction is a strange thing. One woman from the UK, the 22-year-old Nicole Bonner, suffers from a disorder known as pica, which makes inedible objects seem appealing to her – so she eats them.
Nicole was invited on This Morning to talk about her strange addiction. Video of her interview is below, embedded at the end of the article.
The mother of one says it was during her first months of pregnancy that she started craving sponges and soap.
She has, of course, a favorite brand of soap and she only eats that, but she couldn't say what exactly about it appeals to her.
Because she suffered from severe morning sickness when she fell pregnant in 2007, Nicole would often go into the bathroom and just rub soap foam across her face.
She would also smell sponges.
One month after she started doing that, she took her first bite of one.
In almost no time, she was making frequent bathroom trips to rub soap into sponges to eat. Her partner realized something was wrong and, once she confessed to her new addiction, took her to the GP.
After the baby was born, Nicole hoped the craving would go away by itself. It did that, but only for a month, after which it came back.
She compares it to addiction to nicotine, and imagines smokers find it just as difficult to ditch cigarettes as she does soaps and sponges.
Dr. Carol Cooper, also a guest on the show, says a GP can hardly come up with a good treatment for the disorder, adding that therapy is perhaps the best way to go about it.
While Nicole might not have any symptoms so far caused by her ingesting toxic things, the disorder can have the most disastrous consequences, the expert says.
Those who have it should see a specialist immediately and get proper help.
