Arthro-Pod EP 151: Delusory parasitosis and entomology

 Hello friends, and welcome back to Arthro-Pod! Today's episode is a look at a phenomenon many entomologists will encounter, even if they aren't ready to, known as delusory parasitosis. Also referred to as delusions of infestation and Ekbom's syndrome, this situation involves a person believing that their body and home are infested with some sort of biting or stinging pest, despite there being no evidence that is true. We're all predisposed to interpret certain signals as being caused by an insect or mite trying to crawl on us or bite us and unfortunately, sometimes this can further manifest as delusory parasitosis. Sufferers are often desperate for help and entomologists are often helpless to provide assistance. Today we wanted to outline some of the background of delusory parasitosis and talk about how entomologists can help, while also protecting themselves. 

Show Notes

Hinkle, N.C. 2000. Delusory parasitosis. American Entomologist
46(1): 17–25

https://academic.oup.com/ae/article/46/1/17/2389588

Hinkle, N.C. 2010. Ekbom Syndrome: the challenge of “invisible
bug” infestations. Annual Review of Entomology 55: 77–94. Doi:
10.1146/annurev.ento.54.110807.090514

Hinkle, N.C. 2011. Ekbom Syndrome: a delusional condition of “bugs
in the skin”. Current Psychiatry Reports 13: 178–186.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21344286/

 

Szepietowski, J.C., Salomon, J., Hrehorów, E., Pacan, P.,
Zalewska, A., and Sysa-Jȩdrzejowska, A. 2007. Delusional parasitosis in
dermatological practice. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology &
Venereology 21(4): 462–465.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17373971/

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