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What Could Cause The Habit Of Eating Pencil, Erasers And Make-up?
Hi Dr , i eat pencils,erasers, make up , pencil wood and other weird stuff and i don t know what to do. My family knows but they think i don t eat any more. W ill i have short health care or any problems in the future. I can t stop eating it and i m only 16 years old. I eat a huge amounts of pencils and erasers.
Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Hi,
I do understand you concern. Eating stuff like you do can be termed pica and can have both physical causes like anaemia as well as psychological causes. I would advise you to stop hiding your habit and consult a local psychiatrist. You would need a thorough physical examination and investigations including ultrasound abdomen to make sure your gastrointestinal tract is not affected. If no physical causes are found, you might benefit from behavior therapy like habit reversal therapy.
I do understand you concern. Eating stuff like you do can be termed pica and can have both physical causes like anaemia as well as psychological causes. I would advise you to stop hiding your habit and consult a local psychiatrist. You would need a thorough physical examination and investigations including ultrasound abdomen to make sure your gastrointestinal tract is not affected. If no physical causes are found, you might benefit from behavior therapy like habit reversal therapy.
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