Confessions of a 37-year-old thumb sucker: ‘It feels comforting’-dailytelegraph

THUMB sucking can be a hard habit to kick, as Marlene Headington, a psychologist specialising in addiction, knows. She has been sucking hers for 37 years. “It feels comforting,” she says.

She reserves her habit for bed, although her thumb still sneaks into her mouth when she is tired or stressed. Her teeth are fine and she struggles to sleep without it, so she has no plans to stop.

“I don’t see the point.”

Thumb sucking is “like having an addiction to smoking or drugs, it’s very difficult [to give up],” says speech pathologist Andreanne Blanchard from Sydney Spot, who often sees families struggling with a child’s thumb habit.

Marlene Headington said her 18-month-old son Sonny uses a dummy. Picture: Toby Zerna

It is a natural response to a newborn’s sucking reflex — some begin in the womb. Many kids grow out of it. But some cling to the habit well beyond babyhood as a way to calm themselves when they’re tired, upset or stressed.

THUMB-SUCKING HABIT SPAWNS BIZARRE INDUSTRY

Yet it can cause dental deformities, ranging from buck and crooked teeth to an under-sized top jaw. A thumb-thwarting industry has sprung up, ranging from products that “break the pleasure of the suck” to services such as thumb clinics and hypnosis.

Nevertheless, the number of people who kept sucking their thumb into adulthood seems a sizeable, if secretive group.

High-profile members include Bachelorette star Sophie Monk and pop star Rihanna.

dailytelegraph

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