why would some one pull out an eat thier on hair,an eat paper,effects on body?

Question:

i know a girl who is almost bald from pulling out her own hair an eating it,she also eats toilet paper,all the time!!im worried an want to understand why she does it.

Answers:
Pica

A. Persistent eating of nonnutritive substances for a period of at least 1 month.
B. The eating of nonnutritive substances is inappropriate to the developmental level.
C. The eating behavior is not part of a culturally sanctioned practice.
D. If the eating behavior occurs exclusively during the course of another mental disorder (e.g., Mental Retardation, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia), it is sufficiently severe to warrant independent clinical attention.

The cause of pica remains unknown; however, numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain this unusual phenomenon. Cultural, socioeconomic, organic and psychodynamic factors have been cited as causes.

Sensory and physiologic theories focus on the finding that individuals with pica claim to enjoy the taste, texture, or smell of the item they are eating. Psychosocial theories related to pica have examined the association of family stress such as maternal deprivation, parental separation, parental neglect, and child abuse involving pica. Investigations have examined an underlying biochemical disorder, like a diminished dopaminergic neurotransmission, but correlations have not been identified empirically.
Others have proposed that pica is part of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) spectrum of diseases, in which practicing a ritualistic behavior leads to relief of tension and anxiety. Risk factors for pica include parental/child psychopathology, family disorganization, environmental deprivation, pregnancy, epilepsy, brain damage, mental retardation, and developmental disorders

I refer you to a great chapter by Chatoor that discuss eating/feeding disorders (as pica usually, but not always does) http://media.wiley.com/assets/138/92/UK_Tasman_Chap46.pdf#search='chatoor%20feeding%20disorders%20infancy'

Scroll down to page 17 for pica.

All the best!

Other Answers:
Gwen, that girl needs to see a shrink--and soon. Help her connect, okay? You have good cause to be worried.

she definetly has a mental problem and she needs to seek help, mabey you can kindly suggest that to her, i have heard of people pulling out their own hair all the time, but i have never heard of one eating it.

Its called Pica disorder. See if you can access the DSM-IV-TR, it should explain it.

oh! my cuzin used to eat toilet paper too. I think its either nerves or alot of pressure, either from peers or family.

Trichtillomania is a disorder where people pull their hair, and an additional symptom of Trichtillomania is eating the hair.

Sounds like she needs to go see a psychiatrist.

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why would some one pull out an eat thier on hair,an eat paper,effects on body?

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