Approximately 27 people out of every 100,000 suffer from a syndrome called “delusional infestation.” And while that might not seem like many, it works out to about 90,000 Americans walking around, right now, believing that parasites or insects are crawling inside and over their bodies – even though there’s nothing there.
“Parasites usually complained of crawling, burrowing, and biting worms and insects,” wrote a team of psychologists in the Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. “Patients may resort to self-mutilation in an attempt to remove the ‘parasites,’ such as obsessive nail-biting, or using a razor blade.”
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Doctors have also seen patients who engage in horrifying self-purification rituals that involve bathing in kerosene or dousing themselves in insecticide. They’ll gather evidence for their doctors that turns out to be pieces of skin or scabs, and will rarely accept a diagnosis once its given, continuing to seek treatment.
Mayo Clinic research has a database of cases that spans 30 years and proves that the condition is more common than originally thought. The condition can be linked to schizophrenia, dementia, and other neurological disorders, and also shows up in habitual users of meth and cocaine.
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