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!