Yeah, it’s true. Most people have a built-in fear of bugs. For some unlucky souls, however, the fear is far greater than what most of us would consider rational. A significant percentage of the population is afflicted with this problem. Indeed, it’s common enough for the psychiatric community to have come up with a medical term for it: “delusional parasitosis.”
Yesterday’s post on bedbugs obliquely referenced this concept when I wondered how many of us might stress over bugs based on the prevalence of hyped news reports. After all, we’re only human—and our human instincts are hard-wired to reject bugs at a primal level. Delusional parasitosis takes this basic aversion and amplifies it to impressive proportions of clinical significance…to our pets.
In my almost-thirteen years in practice I’ve only seen a handful of cases where my clients clearly suffered this condition. But these were spectacular circumstances in which my clients pointed at unseen spots on their own skin and compared them to their pets,’ or when invisible crawling parasites caused my clients to writhe freakishly in my presence. One client even swore there was a live creature squirming inside his dog.
You might assume these are examples of people whose meds require some serious adjustment. And you might be right. But to some extent we can all identify with delusional parasitosis.
I know few vets and techs who wouldn’t admit to feeling the creepy-crawlies when examining a seriously mangy dog or fur mite infested cat. Observing the bugs under a microscope does nothing to dispel the inexplicable itchiness we feel at the nape of our necks or the backs of our hands. Viewed in that light, delusional parasitosis is completely comprehensible.
Problem is, most cases of delusional parasitosis fly under the radar. They’re not so radical or obvious as in my previous client examples. In fact, they’re far more akin to our own understandable wrigglings at the sight of bugs in our midst.
How about the owner who swears his dog’s flea meds aren’t working (yet there are no fleas in sight)? Or the one who claims her cat won’t stop scratching (though there’s no evidence of this on her skin)?
Much like Munchausen’s-by-proxy, this lower-level psychological condition in humans can lead vets to prescribe medications we’d never otherwise choose for our patients. “Above all do no harm” may yet be our mantra in medicine, but we’d be duped into pushing its ethical boundaries on the delusional observations of our well intentioned (if somewhat impaired) clients.
How prevalent is delusional parasitosis? That’s debatable. Considering its myriad manifeststions—ranging from the meth-addict’s incessant scratching to this vet’s irrational, ringworm-induced itchiness—could it be that we’re over-prescribing?
It’s worth thinking about.
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I can't say I have had a client come to me saying the pet had parasites when it did not that I was unable to convince otherwise. I hope that made sense. I have had people misidentify all sorts of things--one client treated "worms" with OTC stuff and brought her cat in angry that the "worms" got bigger! this was because the "worms" she was treating were actually maggots. Ew! I have had clients attempt to remove skin tags and nipples, thinking they were ticks, but when I could show them there were normal body features they stopped.
I do see some pretty wacky people, and more than once I HAVE wondered what sort of recreational pharmaceuticals were on board...but I really can't say phantom parasites are truly an issue. Perhaps this is because I am up north where insects in general are less of an issue and you're in Florida where you've got arthropods large enough to saddle? I think living with palmetto bugs would definitely keep the insect kingdom in the forefront of my mind...
DrSteggy March 10th, 2008 07:00:00 PM
Doctors! Please don't assume all of those clients are nuts! Consider the "well-groomed" dog/cat that just came back from the beauty parlor. And unbeknownst to the owner, was just groomed after the "mangy mutt" that never sees a bath, but once a year. Some groomers are meticulous, some are not, and would use the same unsanitized slicker, clipper, cage etc. Perhaps the animal, has just the slightest touch of chylettelia (never can spell that word)---that is maddening to the dog, cause a few bumps to the owner, and remains ever elusive to the tape or hair sample spot that you choose!!!
Or just perhaps the canine goes out with the dog-walker, along with some best buddies every day, that may just have been adopted or purchased from that "large" kennel, owner/breeder/shelter oblivious to mites and creepy things......
Barbara A. Albright March 10th, 2008 08:38:00 PM
As a rule, I don't have problems with bugs. If anything I tend to cater to specific ones because they are beneficial for warding off other issues.
My husband is terrified of spiders, but he has learned to atleast tolerate them because they are good for moth control and eat other things that may take up residence in my gardens that I don't want there. Lady bugs rock when it comes to aphid control, so I avoid napalming my yard as they do a better job than any bug spray could do. I'll also share my space with wasps as long as they behave themselves as they love to eat catapillers. I've since learned that the ones that like to hang around my yard have very specific feeding hours, so I just leave them alone and let them bring food back to their nests in peace.
I have yet to make peace with yellow jackets and since they like to build nests under my eves, I don't see us coming to a compromise anytime soon and bumble bees are always welcome and are harmless. Crickets are okay as long as they stay outside. In the event that they decide to come in, I don't squish them. I pick them up, give'em a shake and transport them back outside. For some reason giving them a quick shake stops them from wiggling and or trying to escape my hands.
Bugs I do have problems with would be ticks, fleas, mosquitos and grubs. Grubs kill my lawn and give me the heebie jeebies, even if the skunks think they make for a tasty treat. Yuck! The rest of them are just blood sucking vermin that can carry diseases that I don't want.
Stacy March 10th, 2008 10:37:00 PM
Working with rescue, we have come across our share of creepy-crawlies. The fleas, yeah we can handle that. Ticks? Ickier, but yeah, we have pulled our share. Then there was the poor dog last year that came in totally infested with lice. Talk about EEEEWWWWWW! That poor dog was covered from her eyebrows back with lice, lice eggs, a nest on her back, the whole nine yards. And bless our vet, he was willing to take her in and have his staff shave her and clean her up. When I talked to him later in the day, I thanked him for having the professionals take care of such a huge problem and he told me, well right now my professional is in the back going, eeeewwwww! A year later when we talk about that dog, SOMEBODY in the group will start to scratch!
Robin March 11th, 2008 07:48:00 AM
Speaking of recreation chemicals I also came across a paper decribing vets experiences with clients lying about pet illnesses to get anxiolytics, steroids etc :(
emily March 11th, 2008 11:06:00 AM
I often wonder how many people lie to their personal physicians to get priscriptions for their pet??!!
Especially, since those with good medical insurance & prescription plans--might save a small fortune?
Any statistics or articles on that subject?
Barbara A. Albright March 12th, 2008 11:32:00 AM
I can handle fleas and ticks for the most part, but lice (especially on guinea pigs, etc.) make me freak out - maybe b/c I had lice once when I was a kid (my entire third-grade class broke out)? I don't know, but I've scratched the back of my neck and forearms raw after seeing lice before, and the most fleas or ticks do is make me shudder.
anna March 12th, 2008 03:25:00 PM
I don't know...with a house full of cats and dogs, there is NOTHING that scares me more than a flea. I comb everyone several times a week and the dogs get monthly flea treatment. The cats get it a couple of times a year just as a preventative.
The worst thing I had was a rescue last year that had mites. And because they were the tiny crawling dandruff type, it didn't get picked up when she was vetted (not by my vet, he'd never miss that) So she came in with them, but fortunately the frontline seemed to work and they didn't spread to anyone else. But it does still make me a little ichy thinking about them....
LorriM March 13th, 2008 10:59:00 AM
I have seen two clear cut cases of delusional parasitosis, with owners insisting there were bugs on their pet and on them. One owner couldn't stop picking at herself and she had scars all over her arms. Both would go through the pet's coat pointing at things that were not there. Scary and disturbing.
Robyn Wegweiser March 19th, 2008 01:59:00 PM
I have to agree with Lorri Fleas are something that appear from time to time if you have a pet, they arent nice but the thought of lice gives me the creeps.
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