Washington, Feb 8: The world is full of strange incidents and even stranger people. An instance of another such weird existence is a 19-year old girl in the USA who is addicted to eating soaps and detergent powders.

According to reports of the Daily Mail, the girl called Tempestt Henderson eats up to five soap bars a week and not to forget some washing powder as well. Currently she is under treatment for this addiction.

Doctors refer to this toxic compulsion as a rare medical condition that causes hunger for non-nutritive substances. People suffering from this ailment are known to compulsively eat batteries, coins, chalks, metals, toothbrushes.

The girl was quoted as saying, "In the shower, I like to lather up a green bar of soap, and lick the bubbles. And as the soap disintegrates, I pop a tiny amount of the soap into my mouth and suck it. It's heavenly."

She added, "I love the clean feeling it gives me. Eating soap feels so much cleaner than just washing with it."

According to psychologists, Tempestt resorts to soap eating as a coping mechanism when to comfort herself when she found herself away from her family.

As a part of her treatment she is being asked to go for long walks and avoid places like bathrooms and laundrettes, where soap is normally found.

OneIndia News