Bed Bugs Mental Illness

A recent NYU study indicates that a bed bugs mental illness related problems are real. An actual infestation or the chance that an infestation will occur can act as a trigger in individuals that already have a mental illness. It is not a cause of psychosis or mental illness, but a trigger. Patients report that bed bugs created stressors that can bring out a mental illness along with feelings of isolation, depression and hopelessness. In others, the belief that they have bed bugs or other insects crawling on their body can lead to a condition called delusory parasitosis, with the specific diagnosis often referred to as Ekbom Syndrome.

Delusory Parasitosis is the specific condition where a patient will complain of feeling insects on the body, when in fact, none exist. It is a common condition where an individual will even go so far as to call in an exterminator, when in fact, none is needed. The specific condition is called Ekbom syndrome (ES), a condition that effects approximately 100,000 people in the United States.

It is not unusual to believe that insects are crawling on the skin, it is a sensation that happens to most of us at some time. It is referred to as being "delusory" when there are no insects involved and that the individual believes that there are no other explanations for the problem.

This bed bugs mental illness condition usually occurs in older female adults. Associated behaviors include quitting work, throwing out or destroying furniture, abandoning homes, obsessive cleaning, over use of pesticides and the use of home remedies to remove insects.

When doctors are first approached with a description of a bed bugs mental illness such as insects under the skin, they assume a problem is scabies, since this involves microscopic mites burrowing under the first layer of skin.

Patients are often tempted to scratch a skin itch triggered by the belief that an insect is present, introducing infection into the skin and an actual skin problem.

Seeking a licensed and insured bed bug exterminators that specialize in bed bugs is paramount in this case and others. 855-855-Bugs of Chicago has the largest K-9 Bed Bug Detection Division in the Midwest!

Bed Bug Travel Tips

Many travelers worry that they are going to either sleep in a hotel or cruise ship room that is infested with bed bugs. Bed bugs have even been reported in public transportation, with reported incidents in Australia and Europe. Hotels probably are the most likely place you will find bed bugs, just based on the number of hotels around the world. Reports on cruise ships are infrequent, but possible.
 Here are our bed bug travel tips to help avoid sleeping in a room that has been infested and how to avoid accidentally bringing them home. Traveling without bedbugs doesn't have to be hard.

* When traveling, only bring clothes that can be washed when you get home. Select clothes which can be laundered in hot water and withstand 20 to 30 minutes in the dryer.

* Consider using luggage that doesn't have outside seams, such as hard sided luggage. Bed bugs will try and hide in crevices on the luggage and like to lay eggs on rough surfaces.

* Don't place your luggage inside the hotel room until you inspect the room for bed bugs.

* When entering the room place luggage on racks and away from the floor and if possible at least 10 feet away from the bed. Most bedbugs will be near the bed.

* Keep clothes in the luggage, not hotel room drawers. 

* Zip or close luggage after it is opened so that nothing can crawl inside.