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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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Leave a Comment:
this is so suprising. I thought I was the only weirdo on earth and I still might be because I have actually had several of these strange additions. I ate toilet paper and napkins when I was pregant with my 2nd child and for years I have slept with my hair dryer, not only that all my kids now can't sleep unless they have a hair dryer blowing on them. I think that it just the sound that helps us to fall asleep kind of like how people like to hear wind or the sound of the ocean.
I was attempting to reply to mustang, but the site posted my reply as a regular comment.
Mustang - I hope you get thrown in jail when your kids start going to school with noticeable burns on them from a hair dryer being left in the bed. Or when they die in a fire caused by a covered hair dryer. IT IS NOT SAFE AND YOU ARE A BAD PARENT FOR LETTING YOUR CHILDREN DO THAT.
I'm not going to church it up, sorry.
A humidifier can make a really nice comforting sound, also. When we were sick we would get one put in our room and it was comforting, I think in highschool I went a few months just wanting to sleep to the noise. THOSE are made to be on for long periods of time. NOT a hair dryer.
Hey I've been married 4 times and that silicon doll is sounding good about now. If it doesn't aggravate the crap out of you I might consider.
What sounds Kinky to some is just fun for others.That is what a women I was Working with said to me . I guess she had a point.I my self do the pitching and No catching.
she needs to get laid simply put. If she goes out for dinner, has a bottle of wine with her sparky partner and comes back to the house and he gives it to her every way from sunday i think she'll fall asleep without the hairdryer......if i was into her thats what i'd do anyway-use natural chemicals and physical stimulation to wear her out
The desire to eat non-food items and objects is called Pica, and it has been found to occur in pregnant women. So you're not a weirdo. Even if you are though, you are not the only one. ;o)
TLC is becoming more and more of a freak show. But even as I "tsk, tsk" and shake my head about it, I most likely will still watch the show this Wednesday. It's undeniably fascinating, and the one show I really shouldn't watch but do is "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". It makes me paranoid that even though I am 99.5% (or whatever the percentage is) protected from getting pregnant, I will get pregnant and NOT KNOW IT, until I go into labor on my bathroom toilet. (This happens a LOT on the show.) And my husband likes every once in awhile to say things like "God may decide to give us a baby no matter what we do about prevention", which doesn't help things. I guess TLC, in certain ways, unhealthy for me. But I will continue to watch, because I am...no, not addicted. I can stop anytime. Really.
If your feet are cold in bed at night put on a warm pair of socks.
Strange individuals
ok really? like we have to risk our lives to stay warm these days? im not sure if you guys are aware of this but there are many other ways to stay warm. im not saying anything is wrong with this lady we all have our crazy things we do....but stay safe. for your own sake sweety. i hope that she can find another way to keep warm because i understand....habits are habits and they arent called that for nothing. but i also dont think that her so called "addiction" should be viewed as a problem. i also think that this should be her business....if i had this habit i would not want anyone to share it with the world.
thank u for your time sugar!
ok after reading all the coments.... i have decided that people are really good at pointing out the ovbious...but lets stop with that and think a wee bit harder now kk? alright lets have a wack at it....
this lady dont have a problem just a habit....whether its dangerous or not...its a habit and telling her that there is another way is not going to just change her mind. (as in i highly doubt all you suggestions r gonna help) lets say that maybe she has issues due to the habit becas its dangerous....ok ok thats fine but heres the thing....biting your nails is in no way good for u....niether is cracking your knuckles....or many other habits.....no one ever said habits are safe....and lets be real here........ur a creeper too.
u got ur stuffs she gots hers....just so happens that hers isnt as common as some other habits.....(by the way its a habit not an addiction) and it just so happens that some very rude people thought it would be entertaining to embarress her in front of the television network just to make a show...so what if they are right??? people are rude and stuff to get entertainment.....but then again people get enjoyment out of many things.....u may get entertainment out of a sick show making fun of this lady...ur just as bad as people getting enjoyment out of p videos.....
------------------excuse me 4 any spelling errors...in a rush and just felt i needed to get my words in ;)
I commented on this about a week ago, then I saw the previews for the show. I now believe she is just missing a brick.