Cow Dung Ingestion and Inhalation Dependence: a Case Report

Abstract

Although abuse of several unusual inhalants had been documented, addiction to cow dung fumes or their ashes has not been reported in medical literature as yet. We are reporting a case of cow dung dependence in ingestion and inhalational form.

From Boredom to Dependence: The Medicalisation of the Swedish Gambling Problem

“…Among these we find obesity (García-García et al, 2014), exercise dependence (Allegre, Souville, Therme, & Griffiths, 2006), workaholism (Griffiths, 2005), shyness (Scott, 2006), religiosity (Taylor, 2002), cybersex (Schiebener, Laier, & Brand, 2015), muscle dysmorphia (Foster, Shorter, & Griffiths, 2015) and fortune telling (Grall-Bronnec et al, 2015). Carrots (Kaplan, 1996) and cow dung (Khairkar, Tiple, & Bang, 2009) are now apparently vehicles for substance misuse, whereas substance-free misuse includes fishing, characterised by the Swedish psychologist Anders Tengström (2014) as more addictive than alcohol and described within a general psychological interpretative framework in such terms as "near-bitereinforcement". The addiction concept lends itself to almost anything, and by attributing the negative consequences to external variables, it seems possible to count both oil dependence (Spencer, 2009) and binge flying (Cohen, Higham, & Cavaliere, 2011) as among the severe addictions of our times.…”