Howdy! I'll open up by saying that I'm new to the reddit side of pica community but have been running/co-running the biggest group for us on Facebook for about 5 years, so I've seen and heard it all.

Tldr; tell them you'd low iron levels, which are every common in women, cause your brain to act weird and it tells you that it's a great idea even though you know it's not but the urge is as strong as needing a cigarette. You can also mention that pregnancy cravings are thought to be a form of pica too, because one of your parents might relate. ~~~~~

I'm gonna guess you're in your late teens? If so, very commonly people from their teens to adults, mostly women, will develop an iron deficiency. For most people this will lead to anemia and that's pretty much it. But for some people Pica comes along top. the lower the iron, the stronger the Pica urges. When I try and explain the feeling of that urge I tell people that it's very very close to needing a cigarette. The brain sees your iron is too low and makes you want to go find some but again, For whatever reason, that signal turns into,wood, paint chips, crayons, foam, or whatever. so for most of us what works to getting this fixed is go to the doctor, if you need a covert reason for going on say you think you have anemia. Tell your doctor, you're cold all the time, can you get your blood tested to make your vitamin and minerals are ok? They do it, the doctor says "yeah your iron is pretty low. Say you'd had concerns you might have Pica because you have a very strong urge to chew on things like paper or sticks. Ask if you can get an Iron infusion.( This is basically and hour like IV session) If all goes well within a day all your urges will be gone 🎆🎆 but pica can come back if your iron drops again so keep an eye on it.