Sometimes people organize their lives differently than the average person. They have strange hobbies or a strange lifestyle. For some of these people, their lives have taken such a bizarre turn that they have made the world press. Remarkable, but fortunately not something for most people to strive for. Ever heard of the merman, the adopted doll and the adult baby?
Merman
Eric Ducharme lives in Florida and is obsessed with mermaids. From the age of sixteen, he swims at least three times a week with a homemade artificial tail in the public waters of Florida. He also runs a company called Mertailor. This company produces custom-made mermaid tails made of silicone and latex. The tails are beautiful and apparently inspiring, because the business is doing well, although in addition to mermaid tails he also sells swimwear.
An adopted doll
Married couple Pat and Joe Posey have a Cabbage Patch doll named Kevin who they have considered their own son for nineteen years. They take the doll with them everywhere. He has his own bedroom and playroom as well as his own dog and well-stocked wardrobe. The parents are more crazy about their doll child than about their own, now adult daughter and grandson. According to the couple, their son Kevin is a well-mannered, quiet boy. They have a savings account for the doll so that he can go to college later. In addition to Kevin, the couple also has 5,000 Cabbage Patch dolls. These dolls are seen as playmates of Kevin and they live in a huge mobile home, next to that of the couple and their son Kevin.
Living like a baby
A grown man who copies baby behavior eight hours a day? Adult Stanley Thornton Jr. does this. He has furnished his home with gigantic baby furniture and baby toys. He eats sitting in a large highchair, he plays in a king-size playpen and he wears diapers and flannel rompers. The only thing he is looking for is a mother who wants to care for him full-time. According to the man himself, his behavior is the result of a violent childhood.
Almost 9000 piercings
Elaine Davidson is in the Guinness Book of Records with her piercings. They cover her entire body. She has the most piercings in her genitals, more than 500. At last count, she had 192 on her face. The internal piercings together weigh three kilos. The external piercings have varying weight, depending on the type of decoration. This Brazilian-born lady lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and is married to a man who does not have any piercings. She runs a shop in the center of Edinburgh, where in addition to piercings, hair braiding and tattoos, you can also find aromatherapy, jewelry and special clothing. She likes extreme things, like sleeping on a bed of nails and walking on fire. She is addicted to Coca Cola and practices sports such as judo (black belt), sky diving, trampoline jumping and horse riding.
The human Ken
Ken is the plastic counterpart of Barbie, but there is also a human Ken. The American Justin Jedlica underwent more than a hundred operations to become a human doll. He has already spent more than $100,000 on this. He had his cheeks, lips, nose, chin, biceps, triceps, six-pack, buttocks and shoulders fitted with implants. His eyebrows have been reshaped. He sees his body as a work of art. Quote: I see no reason to stop plastic surgery. That’s like asking Picasso to stop painting.
Why do people do that?
People who exhibit such behavior cannot be happy. They are dissatisfied with themselves and their lives and escape into a fantasy world. There are plenty of examples of this, such as Stalking Cat, an alias of Dennis Avner, who committed suicide in 2012, or the Barbie look-a-like Valeria Lukyanova, who made a serious suicide attempt at the age of fourteen. Today she lives on a diet of liquid food and weighs 45 kilos. According to American research, suicide and death due to extremely risky behavior occur up to three times more often in people who have undergone plastic surgery than in the average person. They often appear to opt for plastic surgery to boost their self-esteem. Unfortunately, this usually doesn’t work.