A friend of mine has a son who is now 10 years old. He has a stuffed toy which is now in shreds. He is attached to his toy.He holds it close to his face and sniffs it... he has been doing this for the past 7 years. I am concerned that he may develop an addition to other substances when he grows up. I don't know what to say to his parents. Please let me know if this is a unique situation and whether anything can be done to help him to break away from this toy.

I'm not so sure if this will lead to an addiction to drugs. If he's only sniffing the toy, it may be because that he's very attached to the toy. I know kids who have attachments to blankies that have the same habit of sniffing the blankie or rubbing it on their face.

The only real issue that I see here is that he may develop an infection or an irritation due to the toy. See if there is a way of possibly cleaning the toy every now and then.

I have a feeling that by the time he's 12 (or even sooner), he should grow out of this.