A Guide to Eating Disorders

Pica

The definition of Pica, by online clarification is,

a tendency or craving to eat substances other than normal food (such as clay, plaster, or ashes), occurring during childhood or pregnancy, or as a symptom of disease.

To dumb it down (so to say), Pica is an ED where an individual consumes substances or materials that are not commonly accepted as edible. This is not simply a weird tic or "malfunction," but rather a mental illness that affects the frontal lobe (which is used primarily for decision making), as well as apparently the Amygdala, which is affected when one has PTSD.

I have seen only a couple of books on Wattpad that discuss or involve Pica, but I think that it's important that more people are exposed to it.

Pica is once again a medical/mental illness, when not occurring during pregnancy or childhood.

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As with most mental illnesses, the symptoms of Pica tend to grow worse when the afflicted is under stress.

People will often suffer serious medical problems when they have Pica, because our bodies are not designed to cope with inhaling the various chemicals and substances that those items often contain. Most of the time, there is only one, or sometimes two items that the patient will eat- if you're writing about this, it's best to do some research about how their item can affect humans.

I find it hard to elaborate on the medical aspects of this, as it cannot simply be classified as an in-the-box illness like some others. The materials that those with Pica will eat/consume vary far and between, ranging from hot glue gun sticks to notebook paper and everything else.

The definition that I found does state "craving to eat", but plenty of childhood disease and illness experts believe that it should be consume as snorting epsom salts isn't something that people do to get high, it's actually a mental illness. Therefore, those with Pica can actually snort/eat/purposefully inhale/swallow/insert through bodily holes basically their object. That being said, eating is the most commonly accepted practice, definition and diagnostic criteria.

As always, if you want some help or advice, please leave me a message, and I'll do my best to provide a good answer.