Savoring the Sofa: Woman Addicted to Eating – Yes, Eating – Couch Cushions

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When one Florida woman gets anxious, she stuffs her face with couch cushions. No joke.

A TLC reality show titled My Strange Addiction chronicles Americans with obsessive habits. The series has encountered some strange tendencies, like the woman who insists with sleeping with her hair dryer (this one worries NewsFeed).

But odd eating habits are by far the most covered, and the program has featured people who eat toilet paper, soap and even hair (yum!). But this week’s profile takes the cake. Adele is addicted to the foam filling inside couches and chairs.

(More on TIME.com: See how addiction affects your brain.)

The 30-year-old Tampa woman has been eating cushion foam for more than 20 years. Adele shows symptoms of a condition called pica, an appetite for non-nutritious, non-food objects, psychologist Jason Mihalko told AOL News.

Her cushion compulsion likely flares up when she is nervous or agitated. But she tells TLC she could “snack on it all day.” She even has a preference for “the darker cushion, the yellow cushion mat,” she tells TLC. “It just has a stronger flavor.” On the show, a psychologist will likely Adele crave something different, ideally something nutritious, when she needs a foam fix.

(More from Healthland: Does suffering from withdrawal mean you’re addicted?)

Adele says she’s consumed seven couches and two chairs in her lifetime. It may not be healthy, but at least the airy foam is low in calories, NewsFeed presumes. (via NYMag)