Abstract
Entomologists estimate that more than 100,000 Americans suffer from "invisible bug" infestations, a condition known clinically as Ekbom syndrome (ES), although the psychiatric literature dubs the condition "rare." This illustrates the reluctance of ES patients to seek mental health care, as they are convinced that their problem is bugs. In addition to suffering from the delusion that bugs are attacking their bodies, ES patients also experience visual and tactile hallucinations that they see and feel the bugs. ES patients exhibit a consistent complex of attributes and behaviors that can adversely affect their lives. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Author supplied keywords
- *delusion/di [Diagnosis]
- *ekbom syndrome/di [Diagnosis]
- bedbug bite
- cleaning
- compulsion
- differential diagnosis
- hallucination
- human
- insomnia
- middle aged
- paranoia
- parasitosis
- pediculosis capitis
- persecutory delusion
- pesticide
- review
- scabies
- scar
- scratching
- sex difference
- skin irritation
- skin ulcer
- social isolation
- suicidal ideation
- tactile hallucination
- visual hallucination
Cite
CITATION STYLE
N.C., H. (2011). Ekbom syndrome: A delusional condition of “bugs in the skin.” Current Psychiatry Reports. N. C. Hinkle, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 120 Cedar Street, Athens, GA 30602-2603, United States. E-mail: nhinkle@uga.edu: Current Medicine Group LLC (400 Market St, Ste 700 Philadelphia PA 19106, United States). Retrieved from http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=emed10&NEWS=N&AN=2011262540
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