def uniques_from_list(df_col):
    """
    Function to create dictionary with number of times an item appears in a column made of lists
    :param df_col: pandas series from dataframe, e.g. df[col]
    :return count_dict: dictionary with distinct elements as keys and number of times they appear as values
    """
    count_dict = {}
    for index in range(df_col.shape[0]):
        obs = df_col[index]
        if obs is not None:
            for item in obs:
                item = str(item)
                if item in count_dict.keys():
                    count_dict[item] += 1
                else:
                    count_dict[item] = 1
    return count_dict