Delusional parasitosis

Delusional parasitosis or Ekbom's Syndrome is a rare disorderin which sufferers hold a delusionalbelief they are infested with parasites. A related symptominvolving a tactile hallucinationof insects, snakes, or other vermincrawling over the skin is known as formication. The originof this word is from the Latinformica, "ant".

It is not to be confused with Wittmaack-Ekbomor restless legs syndrome. Unfortunately, this is also referred to in short as "Ekbom's Syndrome" leaving the audience having to infer the particular meaning from the context. It is named after a Swedish neurologist, Karl Axel Ekbom, who published seminal accounts of the disease in 1937and 1938.

The sufferer typically reports parasites to exist under the skin, around or inside body openings, in the stomach or bowels and may include a belief that the parasites infest the sufferer's home, surroundings or clothing.

A person holding such a belief may approach doctors or dermatologists asking for treatment for the supposed infestation, and will often bring small particles, dust, skin flakes and other material for the doctor to inspect. Since the material may be carried in an envelope or matchbox, this presentation is known as the "matchbox sign."

Stimulant drug abuse (particularly amphetamineand cocaine) can lead to delusional parasitosis. For example, excessive cocaine use can lead to an effect nicknamed "cocaine bugs" where the affected person believes he has, or feels parasites crawling under his skin. These conditions are also associated with high fevers and extreme alcohol withdrawal, often associated with visual hallucinations of insects.

People suffering from these conditions may scratch themselves to the extent of serious skin damage and bleeding, especially if they are delirious or intoxicated.

Treatment

If due to stimulant abuse the primary treatment is to cease the use of stimulants. The chronic condition is treated much as other delusional disordersand schizophrenia. In the past, pimozidewas the drug of choice when selecting from the typical antipsychotics.

Fictional Accounts

An excellent fictional account of delusional parasitosis is given in the opening chapter of Philip K. Dick's novel A Scanner Darkly.

See also

• Amphetamine psychosis
• Delusion
• Delusional disorder
• Parasite
• Psychosis

External links

• http://delusion.ucdavis.edu/
• Ekbom, K.A. (2003)The pre-senile delusion of infestation (Classic text no. 54). History of Psychiatry, 14 (2), 229-256.

References

• Enoch, D. & Ball, H. (2001) Ekbom's Syndrome (Delusional parasitosis). In Enoch, D. & Ball, H. Uncommon psychiatric syndromes (Fourth edition) pp209-223. London: Arnold. ISBN 0340763884

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional+parasitosis Wikipedia article Delusional parasitosis.