What Is Delusional Parasitosis?
Delusional parasitosis, or delusions of parasitosis, is a form of psychosis in which the patient believes that he or she is suffering from parasitic infestation, when in reality there is no such infestation. Often, the patient describes the imagined parasites as bugs crawling over or under the skin. Formication, the medical term for a crawling sensation on the skin, such as the “pins and needles” that can arise when circulation to an extremity is temporarily cut off, may be the basis for some cases of delusions of parasitosis. Delusional parasitosis is sometimes referred to as Ekbom’s syndrome, after 20th century Swedish neurologist Karl Axel Ekbom. However, Ekbom worked on both delusions of parasitosis and restless leg syndrome, and either condition may be referred to as Ekbom’s syndrome. The two disorders are very different, however, as restless leg syndrome has physical causes and delusional parasitosis is a psychological condition.
