My New Favorite Program

I have a new, favorite program on TV. It’s called My Strange Addiction on TLC. Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize there were so many strange addictions; really strange ones. It’s amazing to see how much we humans can screw up human behavior.


Years ago, I used to work at a substance abuse treatment center that treated your garden-variety addictions: Alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, and eating disorders. (If you want to see someone completely out of control, delve into the life of a cocaine-gambling-sex addict. Poor thing.) About the strangest case I ever encountered was a fellow who was obsessed with eating women’s hair. "Partial cannibalism" is a pretty strange diagnosis, though he was harmless; no evidence of anything Hannibal Lector-ish going on.

After that, I thought I’d seen it all. However, those addictions pale in comparison to these folks featured on My Strange Addiction, believe me.

We’ve seen a woman addicted to eating toilet paper for sixteen years. Toilet paper! Another has been eating household cleanser for over thirty years, while another poor soul sleeps with her hair dryer in bed with her every night.

I just want to shout, “Oh my god, what did your parents do to you??!!” (Most of the time, their parents divorced and they felt abandoned. Boo hoo hoo.)

Yeah, my parents divorced, too, but that hasn’t compelled me to scarf down Quilted Charmin and cuddle with a blow dryer every day.

So, yeah, be sure and catch My Strange Addiction. It’s a quick, efficient means of feeling just a little bit better about yourself – and mom and dad.