America's Most Unusual Addictions

Hooked on tanning—or even popsicles? Here are ingenious treatments for 9 bizarre addictions.

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America's Most Unusual Addictions // Woman putting wedding ring on top of gambling chips (© Juice Images/age fotostock)

By Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen for MSN Health & Fitness

Is your obsession normal—or is it an addiction? "Generally, if the behavior interferes with your career, relationships, finances, or health, then it's no longer normal," says New York–based psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert. Addicts have little or no control over their behaviors and are irresistibly drawn to certain habits regardless of the potential harm.

"Another sign of addiction is distress, anxiety, or even mild depression if you quit the behavior," says Alpert. Treatments for the nine more unusual addictions that follow range from mere antihistamines to therapy for learning how to interrupt the pattern of behavior.

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Friday, February 05, 2010 7:06:42 AM

Wow, really sorry to hear about your child. Americans as a group do have a really twisted idea of what is a problem. All those listed in this story have what I call quality problems in that someone who for example can afford an i-pod or tanning or unneeded surgery is probably is not going hungry. 50,ooo human beings starve to death every day right here on earth. I guess these "addicts" don't know what I know, helping others is the ultimate high

hodge76470

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 10:27:56 PM

The only addiction I see here is the addiction to self indulgent B.S. What a crock of crap. How about this for a cure: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP! Bunch of whining-ass babies. Grow up, tell yourself NO. What do you want? Somebody to tell you how pretty and nice and smart you are all the time? Puke on this whole mentality of "poor me". When you get a real problem, like my kid who has paranoid schizophrenia so severe he no longer knows his own family and will spend the rest of his life strapped down in an institution, you come back here and we will talk about your mental problems. When you are frothing at the mouth and your eyes roll around in your head while you howl...come back and we will talk about your mental problems.

I would buy him a hundred popsicles a day if that was all that was wrong with him...

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