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First case of Ekbom's Syndrome.

Started by Kai, January 19, 2010, 03:38:10 PM

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Kai

January 19, 2010, 03:38:10 PM
This morning, I had my first experience with Ekbom's Syndrome, or what is more often called Delusional Parasitosis. A pest control man came to my lab, looking for someone who could look at some "insect samples". I said I wasn't the curator (we don't have a museum curator/diagnostician at the moment, since our last one left for a better paying position), but would take a look, regardless of whether I could identify the sample or not.

But, there was nothing even the closest bit insect looking in the sample. Dust specs, plant parts, debris and dirt. Nothing I could say was a leg or a head or abdomen, or any sort of chitinous arthropod part. He told me that he had a client, an older woman, who SWEARS that there are bugs infesting her house that bite her. He had some cell phone pictures to show me.

Now, I made a point to say I'm not a medical doctor so I can't diagnose these things, but just from my experience I was pretty sure what this was. Delusional Parasitosis is a mental illness where the sufferer believes they and/or their residence is infected with parasites. This is one of the few medical conditions that the average entomologist comes into contact with on a regular basis, especially if they are a diagnostician or work at a museum. I've heard stories of people who won't take no for an answer, who bring samples every week (always no insect parts), and who have a large number of welts and open sores from scratching and picking at their skin, to "let them out" they say. No matter what you tell these people, they will likely continue to believe they are parasitised, even when there is no evidence for such. They don't often go to medical doctors either, instead bringing the "specimens" to us. It's a very sad condition since there is, as far as I know, no cure. Again, not a medical doctor (I know I keep saying this, but you can get in big trouble for diagnosing without a license).

I mention it today because this is the first time I've ever personally seen it. I gave the man a notecard with a link to the wikipedia article, and said he should tell her to go see a doctor about it. He just hoped that it would help her come to terms with that it's "all in her head".

For more information on Ekbom's Syndrom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_parasitosis
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

The Good Reverend Roger

#1
January 19, 2010, 04:49:03 PM
What is America coming to, when honest scientists can't get through a day's work without being accosted by crazed freaks complaining about bugs in their skin?  Hell, she should be thankful...I know perverts that make themselves sick deliberately infecting themselves, and she gets all the fun without the actual parasite.

No, it's high time you stopped taking guff from these bastards, Kai.  If you let them get ahold of you, one day they'll show up barefoot on the porch grinning and giggling and absent-mindedly pissing themselves.  You have to say "NO" firmly, and perhaps give them a whack upside the head with a kjeldahl flask.  That'll teach the buggers.

They're worse than drug people, these weirdos, and will turn on you in heartbeat when you tell them that they just handed you a sample of dust, pubic hair, and pocket lint.  Call security and have them beaten as an example to the others.  These people are NOT on your side, Kai, and allowing sympathy to override your instincts will only lead to tears.

Okay for now,
TGRR
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cain

#2
January 19, 2010, 04:56:28 PM
I think you should provide them with real parasites.  It would be a kindness, really.

The Good Reverend Roger

#3
January 19, 2010, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Cain on January 19, 2010, 04:56:28 PM
I think you should provide them with real parasites.  It would be a kindness, really.

Better yet, refer them to Roger & Cain's Subdermal Pest Exterminators™.  Our unique combination of cauterizing irons and our secret process for locating the insects will have them right as rain in no time, at very reasonable rates.  Cash up front, please.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Cain

#4
January 19, 2010, 05:08:32 PM
That was to be the next step.  After all, in these troubled economic times, anything that keeps money changing hands is a good thing.

Hell, on that basis we could get Kai to apply for a bug bailout from the feds.

The Good Reverend Roger

#5
January 19, 2010, 05:11:03 PM
Quote from: Cain on January 19, 2010, 05:08:32 PM
That was to be the next step.  After all, in these troubled economic times, anything that keeps money changing hands is a good thing.

Hell, on that basis we could get Kai to apply for a bug bailout from the feds.

No, Kai still has that "integrity" thing I heard about a long time ago.  That's why I didn't suggest he pimp himself out for a daytime TV show pandering to these freaks, ala "Dr Oz".  He'd make a fortune, but he'd hate himself.

TGRR,
Can live with hating himself.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Kai

#6
January 19, 2010, 05:22:28 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 19, 2010, 04:49:03 PM
What is America coming to, when honest scientists can't get through a day's work without being accosted by crazed freaks complaining about bugs in their skin?  Hell, she should be thankful...I know perverts that make themselves sick deliberately infecting themselves, and she gets all the fun without the actual parasite.

No, it's high time you stopped taking guff from these bastards, Kai.  If you let them get ahold of you, one day they'll show up barefoot on the porch grinning and giggling and absent-mindedly pissing themselves.  You have to say "NO" firmly, and perhaps give them a whack upside the head with a kjeldahl flask.  That'll teach the buggers.

They're worse than drug people, these weirdos, and will turn on you in heartbeat when you tell them that they just handed you a sample of dust, pubic hair, and pocket lint.  Call security and have them beaten as an example to the others.  These people are NOT on your side, Kai, and allowing sympathy to override your instincts will only lead to tears.

Okay for now,
TGRR

I know that well, Roger. I can't let these semi-hypochondriacs get ahold of me, not at least till I start getting payed to tell them what's what.

On the other hand...well, maybe these people have something. Maybe they see the spiders, you know THE SPIDERS. Those ones. Maybe they see the spiders and mistake them as something else. I can't help but feel sorry for those people, since I'm in the same boat. I know what they are at least, don't think that they are little mites biting and stinging me, I see them for what they really are.

Maybe, just maybe, I should tell these people that YES, the spiders are real, and all you have to do is squish them, and they'll be gone forever. It's kinda like Pratchett's Headology. If a man is standing on a stool complaining of giant spiders you can't see, GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO POKE THEM WITH, GODDAMNIT!

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

The Good Reverend Roger

#7
January 19, 2010, 05:25:28 PM
Quote from: Kai on January 19, 2010, 05:22:28 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 19, 2010, 04:49:03 PM
What is America coming to, when honest scientists can't get through a day's work without being accosted by crazed freaks complaining about bugs in their skin?  Hell, she should be thankful...I know perverts that make themselves sick deliberately infecting themselves, and she gets all the fun without the actual parasite.

No, it's high time you stopped taking guff from these bastards, Kai.  If you let them get ahold of you, one day they'll show up barefoot on the porch grinning and giggling and absent-mindedly pissing themselves.  You have to say "NO" firmly, and perhaps give them a whack upside the head with a kjeldahl flask.  That'll teach the buggers.

They're worse than drug people, these weirdos, and will turn on you in heartbeat when you tell them that they just handed you a sample of dust, pubic hair, and pocket lint.  Call security and have them beaten as an example to the others.  These people are NOT on your side, Kai, and allowing sympathy to override your instincts will only lead to tears.

Okay for now,
TGRR

I know that well, Roger. I can't let these semi-hypochondriacs get ahold of me, not at least till I start getting payed to tell them what's what.

On the other hand...well, maybe these people have something. Maybe they see the spiders, you know THE SPIDERS. Those ones. Maybe they see the spiders and mistake them as something else. I can't help but feel sorry for those people, since I'm in the same boat. I know what they are at least, don't think that they are little mites biting and stinging me, I see them for what they really are.

Maybe, just maybe, I should tell these people that YES, the spiders are real, and all you have to do is squish them, and they'll be gone forever. It's kinda like Pratchett's Headology. If a man is standing on a stool complaining of giant spiders you can't see, GIVE SELL HIM SOMETHING TO POKE THEM WITH, GODDAMNIT!



Fixed.

However, Fat City is not prepared to hear about The Spider, and they'll KILL you if you try to tell them.  It would be like telling an angry nun that her UTI is actually the clap...they will strike out in rage, and you are the nearest person.

No, best to just forget these people exist, and leave them to the experts.  Which would be Cain and I.  Website forthcoming.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Kai

#8
January 19, 2010, 05:28:48 PM
It's the same when you tell them their parasites are a delusion, Roger. They never believe you, they get angry, and then forget and come back again the next week. Those with delusions of parasites become (somewhat) parasites; hows that for irony?
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

The Good Reverend Roger

#9
January 19, 2010, 05:31:11 PM
Quote from: Kai on January 19, 2010, 05:28:48 PM
It's the same when you tell them their parasites are a delusion, Roger. They never believe you, they get angry, and then forget and come back again the next week. Those with delusions of parasites become (somewhat) parasites; hows that for irony?

Precisely what I was trying to say.

Like I said, have campus security tase them a bit.  Who knows, the current may kill their brain flukes or whatever the hell it is they think they have.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Kai

#10
January 19, 2010, 05:34:17 PM
Thankfully I haven't come into contact with these people /in person/ yet. This pest control guy was nice enough, and obviously not delusional (about parasites anyway).
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water. --Loren Eisley, The Immense Journey

Her Royal Majesty's Chief of Insect Genitalia Dissection
Grand Visser of the Six Legged Class
Chanticleer of the Holometabola Clade Church, Diptera Parish

The Good Reverend Roger

#11
January 19, 2010, 05:45:09 PM
Quote from: Kai on January 19, 2010, 05:34:17 PM
Thankfully I haven't come into contact with these people /in person/ yet. This pest control guy was nice enough, and obviously not delusional (about parasites anyway).

On a serious note, the guy did the right thing, I think.  If you don't know, consult someone who will know.

Then he knows for sure what he's dealing with.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Iason Ouabache

#12
January 19, 2010, 05:59:52 PM
Reminds me of Morgellons disease. The only way to cure these people is MORE PILLS!
You cannot fathom the immensity of the fuck i do not give.
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The Good Reverend Roger

#13
January 19, 2010, 06:03:53 PM
Quote from: Iason Ouabache on January 19, 2010, 05:59:52 PM
Reminds me of Morgellons disease. The only way to cure these people is MORE PILLS!

Meh.  At least it keeps 'em quiet. 

I mean, if you can't cure them, you may as well keep them from waking the neighbors.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
- TGRR, shaming himself forever, 7/8/2017

"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

Iason Ouabache

#14
January 19, 2010, 06:06:29 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on January 19, 2010, 06:03:53 PM
Quote from: Iason Ouabache on January 19, 2010, 05:59:52 PM
Reminds me of Morgellons disease. The only way to cure these people is MORE PILLS!

Meh.  At least it keeps 'em quiet. 

I mean, if you can't cure them, you may as well keep them from waking the neighbors.
I've heard whispered rumors that they have done some studies on Obecalp which does wonders on stuff like this.  :wink:
You cannot fathom the immensity of the fuck i do not give.
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