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Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for substances largely non-nutritive (e.g., clay, coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, soap, mucus, ash, gum etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato,raw rice, starch, ice cubes, salt, blood).[1] In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate. The condition's name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird which is reputed to eat almost anything[1]. Pica is seen in all ages, particularly in pregnant women and small children, especially among children who are developmentally disabled, where it is the most common eating disorder[2].

Pica in children, while common, can be dangerous. Children eating painted plaster containing lead may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning. There is a similar risk from eating dirt near roads that existed prior to the phaseout of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline (in some countries) or prior to the cessation of the use of contaminated oil (either used, or containing toxic PCBs or dioxin) to settle dust. In addition to poisoning, there is also a much greater risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or tearing in the stomach[citation needed]. This is also true in animals. Another risk of dirt eating is the possible ingestion of animal feces and the accompanying parasites. Pica can also be found in animals, and is most commonly found in dogs.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder) )

I will give you a weird example,

"A Taste For The Unusual:

In 2004, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that a 62-yr French man visited an emergency room with a severe belly ache. He was in extreme pain, could not eat, or move his bowels. Doctors X-rayed his stomach and found it missing- rather it had dropped between his hips- due to the fact that it contained twelve pounds of coins, jewelry, and needles. Twelve pounds! The weight of a bowling ball. Apparently the patient had been slipping coins into his mouth for the past ten years! Maybe he wanted a "change" in his diet, as his belly held 350 coins worth over $650. Don't try this at home: The Frenchman died within days of his surgery."

Alright, wiki, mentioned that an appetite for blood, is a form of PICA.

So do those of us who claim to be vampires, have a strange form of PICA? And when does the eating disorder become a mental disorder? Is it a normal thing for people? A fascination gone to the extreme? Or do those peoples bodies REALLY need it to sustain itself?

Firstly, no one's body needs blood to survive. Blood in quantities of a few cups or less is an emetic (aka it makes you vomit). However, the topic of pica where one craves blood came up in another thread not too long ago. It may explain a few cases, but pica usually manifests as a symptom of anemia, and the idea that there are THAT many anemics out there is a little far-fetched. It sounds like a psychological issue more often than a medical one.

Hehe this is going to spark some fireworks,anyways I had a pica for over 10 years, I quit cause i no longer have a refrigerator with ice cubes/granite maker, but i used to chew ice? every 20 mins hehe when i went to the dentist they said my teeth were severely sanded, Due to some unusual behavior and asked if i bite my nails, chew alot of bubble gum or straws. =S

I would imagine you got your low blood iron levels under control?

Well i havent tested for a long time so I wouldnt know of any problems pertaining to blood levels/disease or any related medical condition, havent been sick for like 9 years, but my diet is solely meat, no vegs beside rice and bread, but I take vitamins for my fiber and other replacements..I should deff test lol..I just hate hospitals.

Meh, could be worse. I'd hate to see what you'd do if you were seriously injured and forced into a hospital. lol.

I believe it is a mental AND eating disorder, but I would like to know everyone else"s opinion.

Probably will have to suck the situation lol, its all psychology i'd say, when i was little i had this bike that was sortof like a motorcicle and it was to big for me, so yeah i started to ride that shit and i couldnt reach the pedals well so ina turn i stucked my foot on part that has like spikes and hold the chains so i fell and it tear my left feet like shit an made this huge gap and i could see things i there i never knew i had lol so i freaked out and i was afraid to hell to go to an hospital and the wound needed to be stitched, but i refused like hell to not get them, i end up curing it my myself with bandages, alcholol and lemon/salt each day, which it was stupid cause tha tonly kills the white cells lol, since then i was terriied to doctors and sharp edge stuff, until like 1 year ago, when i saw like half of my architecture class get cut open, and choped fingers while cutting cartboards to make models...its all in the head... but i still dont like hospitals hehe

Pica is most of the time caused by minor brain damage and or problem during birth or childhood under the age of 2 to 3.

Pica is also a behavior that may surface in children who've had a brain injury affecting their development. It can also be a problem for some pregnant women, as well as people with epilepsy.

RE:"I believe it is a mental AND eating disorder, but I would like to know everyone else"s opinion."

I really dont know if its mental, but it sure damn is eating disorder... blood taste like licking a piece of pipe or scrap metal, idk why people would like to drink it, or yet find it refreshening, maybe when you are a "vampire" it taste like what cocacola or sprite?..

Oftentimes, Pica is caused by an iron deficiency, but it is also caused by mental disorders. Apparently, it's usually a medical issue. Not a whole lot of testing has been done on the cause, though.

(^^ lmao) (coca-cola or sprite?)

It's just alot of people on here claim until they're blue in the face, that they NEED it, and get "powers" or become "powerful" after drinking it.

Figure the percentages, how many are out right lying to impress people? How many are just wanting to see how guilible others are, those that are speaking symbolic, and those who are power tripping ( through people willing to cut themselves for them).

I agree with dabbler. Someone should start a poll.

i know when i was pregnant with my son the dr said i had a form of pica because of my obsession with soft scrub i hadto have it it was the smell of it but my sons father was sooo afraid that i was gonna eat I would buy it and hide it because he kept throwing because i would scrub everything with it

interesting take....

i am a school teacher of years (exceptional ed - emotional disturbance) and i have had students who ate paper, chalk, etc. also have had cutters and a whole gambit of other types.

never thought as some's fixation on blood consumption as a form of PICA... but the idea of it being one is an excellent point. children will put most anything into their mouth - some apparently don't grow out of these sometimes weird obsessions.... that's a fact

I was watching television about people who eat in their sleep. They sleepwalk thier way to the kitchen and then start making things like what you guys are talking about. One of them got peanut butter and eggshells and milk and screws and blended it up in the blender and drank it right down.
This other lady would go to sleep and then wake up with all kinds of half finished food laying all around her. They videotaped her getting up, scrouging through the kitchen, then getting back into bed with armfuls of food.

As for the blood thing being pica? It's plausible I suppose. But it then it should also be a psycological issue along with an eating disorder. As you said that all these people claim to 'need' it.

Then again, maybe they are just trying to be cool. (which is even MORE possible)

That could be possible............people will do ANYTHING to get noticed.

Even historically, those who were viewed as vampires didn't drink blood. Sometimes they thought so but it was just part of the death process. Those who do in the community are a minority and are getting away from it to a degree due to blood borne diseases and its small amounts anyway like a couple of ounces.

One of the research channels, Discovery, etc had a show on cannibalism awhile back and in their presentation it was stated that 30% of the population are not affected by the emetic effect of blood. Much of the idea of blood drinking comes from fiction or superstitions of uneducated peasants. I'm not saying there are not those who crave it and say it is because of being vampirics but they won't die without it. They will not think it is due to pica. It could be something similar that is apart of the person's makeup and not merely because of what they believe themselves to be; fact or fiction in other people's viewpoints. It may be because their body chemistry is different and a natural state of being for some. No one knows whether this is true or false. The run of the mill person will find it odd and feel the person is deluded but it is the nature of man to be this way; incredulous of what they don't understand or have never experienced for themselves.

You have to understand when someone is profoundly mentally challenged they will not distinguish between what should be eaten and what should not. Some will pick up and eat almost anything. From what I understand, the most prevalent is eating dirt. I worked with DD people, mostly children, for ten years and some had these problems. It would seem to me that lumping blood drinking in with all the others is a judgment call by the medical profession and not necessarily scientific fact. It is something that most people don't do and why, isn't that obvious? It is the premise of the topic. If you believe the sign of a vampiric in the modern culture which stems from hundreds of years underground, is only the act of drinking blood then you will find a lot of people disagreeing. Some do but the majority do not and the answer to that has not been discovered. It is a bickering point both in the culture and outside it. I don't think one can do anything more than state personal opinions on this one. Remember, drinking blood has also been considered a fetish. Some just like drinking it and others feel they need it. There is a difference and now you have the medical profession listing it under a brain disfunction. I find it funny. Anything they don't understand eventually becomes a syndrome or disorder and the big one; mental aberration.

I had a friend who was a polysomnographer and he said people do all sorts of things while sleeping. Some I wouldn't believe and he couldn't repeat :)

I eat paper , i dont, know why it just sort of ends up in my mouth , is it because i,am brain damaged .

Fiber defecancy.

I bet you are a crack shot with a "Pee Shooter".

Good thought , i might take that up .

I chewed leather at one time. Iodine deficency, I had a nuitritionist devolope a vitimin and suplument package for for anxiety, it worked. I even quite smoking ( for a while) until I was unable to continue.

When i was pregnant i used to eat marmite straight out the jar , I later found out that marmite is a rich sorce of folic acid , which is appantly really important during pregnancy . Maybe our bodies just know what there doing .

Not necessarily. People with iron deficiency often chew ice. Other things that are often eaten are sand, paint chips (which can contain lead), and indigestible metal. The body has no idea what it's doing.

Some of these things are considered ticks and not pica such as chewing on the collar of a shirt (one is wearing)or sucking on one's hair and other things like that.

Hmm, I used to eat erasers when I was in school.....

I was among those who ate paste in Kindergarten, but I think that's more of a phase than PICA. lol.

one of my class mates used to eat the little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners.

**Are you sure it wasn't you Abbz?** **lol, jk, love you**

Anywho, don't you "love" it when you create a thread, and someone creates a similar one to take it's place. **Why do humans crave blood**

I don't think any of those things are consider PICA, just phases. PICA is when it becomes a non-intentional habit. The object becomes a neccisity to eat on a daily basis, for a prolonged amount of time. Or when it is triggered, usually by anger or frustration, usually when the person has a mental handicap.

The people I know who drink blood, are FAR from a mental handicap, they are quite the intellectuals. Although, that doesn't disclose a possibilty of them having mental issues in which they consume blood.