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TLC
Lori Broady, right, who says she is addicted to sleeping with her blow dryer, stands with her sister, Tawni Abplanalp.
Joan Raymond writes: Most of us use our hair dryers to, well, dry our hair. But Lori Broady, 31, turns the dryer on, sticks it in her bed, and falls asleep to the soothing sound of hot air. She’s been doing this every night since she was 8 years old, despite knowing she may burn herself or start a fire. This, of course, raises the question: Why doesn’t she just buy a fan if she needs a little noise to fall asleep? Turns out, it's not that simple.
Broady appears on the new TLC 12-part series, "My Strange Addiction," which premieres Dec. 29 at 9 p.m. Also featured are folks with other extreme behaviors like thumb sucking, toilet paper eating, "tanorexia" and even a guy in a relationship with a silicone doll.
What’s clear is that it’s not easy being human. And unlike some creatures that simply run in circles to self-soothe (if you’ve ever owned a Jack Russell Terrier, you know what I mean) humans can be very creative in our attempts to control our lives and relieve stress. “Nothing (people do) surprises me,” says psychologist Jason Elias, Ph.D., director of psychological services and clinical research at McLean Hospital’s OCD Institute.
You don’t need to be a Freudian scholar to know that some of these seemingly odd behaviors have a lot do with early childhood experiences and other factors that may make a person associate a behavior or object as pleasurable. But no matter what your addiction -- heroin, cheeseburgers or silicone dolls -- “the biology is the same,” with the brain releasing a little squirt of dopamine in anticipation of the reward, explains psychoanalyst Mike Dow, co-host of TLC’s "Freaky Eaters." The more a person begins to associate pleasure with a specific behavior, the more they want. Self-soothing is a problem -- and can even be considered an addiction -- when it’s self-injurious, affects relationships and interferes with a person’s ability to function.
It’s important to remember that self-soothing strategies, of the non-extreme variety, are actually pretty common. So the next time you’re in a meeting, look around and see if your colleagues are twirling their hair, clicking a pen, or rubbing a pant leg (hopefully their own). All of these behaviors are self-soothing, says Elias, “but we consider them more acceptable than sucking on a thumb.” Or, for that matter, taking a silicone doll out to dinner.
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Oh c'mon folks. WE all know what the article is attempting to elicit. The hairdryer is supposed to elicit thoughts of some type of sexual stimulus. Let's not beat around the "bush". LOL.
I agree. It's obvious she has issues with *ahem* envy, and want to hold it all night and there just are few men that would be willing to get into that sort of long-term commitment.
But this story and some of the posts have another underlying current going on. Traditional stuck in the 80-90's trends and profiling. take like the hairdrying. Who dries their hair everyday? I take my blow dryer out for special occassions at best, and I have a head of hair like I did when I was a teen. Also, the stay at home mothers I know are better fit and look healthier than working mothers. They are not dragged down.
It's odd how people get stuck in their ways,, it leads to these (stranger) idiosyncrasies.
MANY people blow dry their hair every day...FYI...
being a single working mom is not easy, could be why we don't look as "fit and healthy" as stay at home moms...
and I thought there was something wrong with me because I wanted to sleep with another woman.
There would be something wrong with you if you wanted to sleep with another hair dryer.
Hey maybe you could make it a 3-way. Maybe a curling iron.
The 11th Commandment
though shall not covet thy neighbors hair dryer!
rod:
And the 12th Commandment: Thou shalt not eat toilet paper if it has poop on it.
There is no greater adrenalin rush than shoving half a dozen tarantulas in your shorts....
Was that toilet paper used or still on the roll.
Have you seen the shape of some of those newer hair dryers. My wife says I often produce another
type of air during the night and it isn't hot, well maybe a little warm.
Will, I was not judging her. However, allowing your child to take a hair dryer to bed (an item that could cause sever injuries), is not wise. By the way, I do not watch soap operas as I work full time. Further, I am not fat. You seem to be having a bad day. I do hope that it gets better. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
If Hot air gives her a good nights sleep, then the first lady must sleep like a log every night!
I have a habit of rubbing my hands. It drives me crazy and it's hard to stop.
I tend to more and more believe its an Idiocracy.
I think what you meant was "idiosyncracy"?
This tv show is nothing more than a modern day version of a carnival freak show. These people are freaks not because of strange birth defects, but because of their mentally warped minds.....
I have to come and say something. This woman is my best friend and not psychologically challenged at all. She just likes the warmth and the sound of a blow dryer to sleep. You should all watch the show before you make assumptions about someone's emotional state. Oh and about her parents, WONDERFUL amazing people! Very nurturing and normal. Shame on all of you. Watch the show and then say somethin. Better yet, maybe you should look inwardly about what's going on in your life before you talk about a complete stranger. Just a thought. Love is Love.
Sorry but if she needs a hair dryer in the bed to fall asleep ... oh never mind, I don't even believe you know her.
My wife takes hers to bed every night .. ... ... vibrates a little and doesn't get very warm but she seems to enjoy it immensely
This chic has some real issues!!
I saw that guy who is in love with the silicone doll on a different TV show. I think it was Taboo. He "married" the doll, I believe.
If anyone wants to heat their bed before going to bed instead of a hair dryer why not a Mattress Heater? We do not heat our bedroom but we like the bed to be warm, we put the bed on two hours before going to bed and turn it off when we go to sleep. Nice and toasty and alot safer than a hair dryer.
"Don't judge me!" LOL!
I'd introduce her to my bedwarmer, no chords or batteries required, but I already licked him. :) So that means he is all MINE!!
So here's what I think, you probably shouldn't make assumptions based off of one paragraph of information. It'd probably be best for all of you to wait to see the show to get enough info to make a conclusion about Lori. She's not abnormal at all, other than the fact she sleeps with a blow dryer, which is indeed stupid and dangerous. But it's probably become the only way she can sleep. Alot of people have some kind of sleep aide, whether it's very small or extreme. And don't make assumptions about her parents. When she was 8, she had 9 other siblings living at home. I'm sure it was quite difficult to monitor ALL the actions of 10 kids as parents. They raised her fine, she just picked up a weird habbit. And I definitely hope she stops doing it too. It definitely is dangerous.
...so in other words, another Freak Show on TV.
I read this, and was twirling my hair the whole time.
Ya know... "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4R6fmwLkxA
I cannot sleep if my feet are cold, so what i do is throw bout 3 towels in the dryer for a few minutes and put them under the covers down by my feet. it works wonders : }
i like to fall asleep to the smell of sulfer in a blown out match, mmmmm...
I hope someone turns off the hair dryer and it doesn't blow all night - could be a fire hazard if left on.
Hair dryers are for.... get ready for this.....drying your hair ! Heating pads and electric blankets are for warming up the bed or parts of your body. You are just as crazy as the lady on that show.....But I will watch it because I like really stupid, self centered, or just plain crazy people showing their dumb side on public TV
In the interest of giving a nod to practicality... I say let the blowdryer fanatics go on their merry way. I personally have used a hairdryer for roughly 30 minutes straight (putting up plastic sheeting on my windows) and the draw of power literally burned right through the sheathing on the cord and proceeded to burn through our curtains before I noticed what was happening. In arguments like this, I say just let 'em go, give Darwinism a chance and let these folks learn for themselves.
You are not the only person with feet, and far from the only person to have ever had them get too cold. There are dozens of news stories each year about fires from appliances whose intended purpose is to provide warmth (portable space heaters, salamanders, etc.) - if some people want to take their chances with devices that are CLEARLY MARKED to have a higher risk of injury - especially when used improperly... be my guest.
Maybe if your pets get too cold, you can just put 'em in the microwave for a minute or two?!?