The world's strangest addictions: Meet the man who eats glass and the mother who can't sleep without her hairdryer

By Tamara Abraham

Last updated at 11:24 PM on 9th June 2011

For most people, a hairdryer is simply a tool for drying hair, but for one woman, the appliance is an absolute essential when it comes to getting a good night's sleep.

Lori Broady, 31, who features on new TLC show My Strange Addiction, has not been able to sleep without her hairdryer since she was eight.

The series profiles a number of bizarre compulsive habits, including as a man who eats glass and a ventriloquist who chose her puppets over her fiance, and shows the mother-of-one sleeping with the device in the bed beside her, leaving it switched on all night long.

White noise: Mother-of-one Lori Broady can't sleep without her hairdryer switched on in the bed beside her

Without it, she says, she can get extreme withdrawal symptoms.

She told Good Morning America: 'I would have to rock myself, I would shake... I'd have to wrap myself up - I'd have to do a lot of different things to cope with not having it.'

Ms Broady explained that she was reassured by the white noise and heat. She added: 'It's a comfort thing, it's a security thing, it's the noise, it's the air, it's all-encompassing.'

She believes the problem stems from a 'chaotic' childhood, in which she grew up in a household of ten children. She says she started using a hairdryer to help drown out noise made by her siblings.

Risk: Ms Broady was concerned that her daughter was adopting the same addiction

But while she says she is not embarrassed about the bizarre habit, she was worried about the risk of fire, especially having a small child in the home.

She was also concerned that her daughter was adopting the same addiction.

'It was just not something I wanted for her. I didn't want her to, first of all, struggle with the same issues I was struggling with, and it wasn't fair of me to have her have to deal with that.'

Obsessive compulsive disorders: Another episode of the show profiles Josh who can't stop eating glass and has a penchant for lightbulbs

Among the other unlikely addicts that feature on the show are Kesha who eats half a roll of toilet paper each day and, Crystal, who has been eating household cleaner since she was twelve.

But one of the most fascinating is the story of ventriloquist April Brucker.

The 22-year-old refuses to go anywhere without one of her eight puppets - and even broke up with her fiance when he made her choose between him or the puppets.

Ultimatum: April Brucker refuses to go anywhere without her puppets - and even broke up with her fiance when he made her choose between him or them

She told GMA: 'I feel really shy when I don't have my puppets. It's really hard. I was a really shy kid, and I'm especially shy around guys because I struggled with my weight.'

TV psychotherapist Mike Dow, believes that the behaviours featured on the show are caused by the same emotional needs as more common addictions.

He said: 'I think they have a quality to them that people can actually understand.'

Of Ms Broady's hairdryer habit he explained: 'When you're going to bed, you need security and you need to know you're okay.