# Is Morgellan syndrome real or psychosomatic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855 "2012-11-22T18:49:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/21 "2012-11-23T15:17:14Z")
I say it’s bed bugs. When in doubt, blame bed bugs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/22 "2012-11-23T15:34:20Z")
> [@michaeltangelo](#): > > This is what I’ve suspected all along. Did I mention that she’s a regular crack smoker? From that first CDC article link, the full article mentions that 50% of the participants tested positive for drugs. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/23 "2012-11-23T16:14:17Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But it can be very hard to get the sufferer to take the anti-psychotic meds, or engage in cognitive therapy to deal with their disease. They usually have a LOT invested in not ‘being crazy’. Right, but asking them “Is your disease real, or psychosomatic?” doesn’t help get them to that point. In fact, that phrasing may push their friends/family/support system into buying into the who “Morgellan” thing because it puts them in a position where they think that saying “It’s not biologic” is the same as saying “Mom’s faking”, and they know she’s not faking. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/24 "2012-11-23T22:52:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I often wonder how much of it is psychosomatic, and how much of it could be B12 deficiency. I’ve had to deal with that, and it gave me some loss of feeling in my skin. When this is going on, you sometimes feel something crawling on you, but it turns out not to be there. It really wouldn’t take much to go from that to assuming there really was something there, if I didn’t know better. Hm. I assumed it was the insects that occasionally buzz around the place (though I never attributed it to Morgellons), but come to think of it I haven’t felt it since I styarted taking B12 supplements a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![FrillyNettles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ea924/32.png) [@FrillyNettles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrillyNettles)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/25 "2012-11-23T23:29:47Z")
I’m a veterinarian, and I’ve had to deal with this, or something similar. I have a client who regularly brings in her poor little dog and insists the dog has “bugs” in her skin causing her “lesions.” Any lesions on this sweet little pup are those created by me, when I do skin scrapings to prove to the owner there are no “bugs.” Nothing I say, prescribe, or do will make any difference. I refuse to put the dog on antibiotics for a rash she doesn’t have. I refuse to put her on ivermectin for mites she doesn’t have. What I have done is dispensed topicals, such as shampoos that will kill bacteria and yeast, but only because the shampoo cannot cause any harm. And I encourage regular use of flea/tick/heartworm preventatives. I’ve probably done skin scrapings and skin cytology on the dog a dozen times. The client consistently, and rather frantically, points out the “bugs” on the dog’s skin–dandruff likely caused by her incessant picking at the dog’s skin. The last time, the client actually complained about the bill. I told her to enjoy it because it was the last time I will scrape her dog without cause. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/26 "2012-11-24T01:45:06Z")
> [@FrillyNettles](#): > > I’m a veterinarian, and I’ve had to deal with this, or something similar. I have a client who regularly brings in her poor little dog and insists the dog has “bugs” in her skin causing her “lesions.” Any lesions on this sweet little pup are those created by me, when I do skin scrapings to prove to the owner there are no “bugs.” Nothing I say, prescribe, or do will make any difference. I refuse to put the dog on antibiotics for a rash she doesn’t have. I refuse to put her on ivermectin for mites she doesn’t have. What I have done is dispensed topicals, such as shampoos that will kill bacteria and yeast, but only because the shampoo cannot cause any harm. And I encourage regular use of flea/tick/heartworm preventatives. I’ve probably done skin scrapings and skin cytology on the dog a dozen times. > > The client consistently, and rather frantically, points out the “bugs” on the dog’s skin–dandruff likely caused by her incessant picking at the dog’s skin. > > The last time, the client actually complained about the bill. I told her to enjoy it because it was the last time I will scrape her dog without cause. Zoological Munchausen by proxy. :smack: Ay dios mio. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/27 "2012-11-24T02:13:27Z")
> [@michaeltangelo](#): > > Did I mention that she’s a regular crack smoker? I thought her issue mirrored typical amphetamine psychosis but I am so conditioned to her lack of acknowledgment about that as a possible contributing factor but I should have known. I have seen behavior like this before among incessant crack and speed users but this was the first time I had heard it labeled as Morgellan’s. OHHhhhhh! That changes EVERYTHING. She just has [bugs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_cocaine#Physiological_effects). She should cut back. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/28 "2012-11-24T02:32:53Z")
Tell your friend you found convincing evidence that Morgellon’s IS being created by the government. They’re disseminating it tainting the nation’s crack supply with Morgello eggs. If she stops smoking crack and takes some B-12 to flush out the old eggs, it’ll clear right up. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/29 "2012-11-24T02:37:45Z")
Crackheads and abusers of many other drugs, most famously meth, often scratch themselves delusionally, which in short order create real skin lesions, infections, etc. ---
**Author:** ![mugaliens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mugaliens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mugaliens)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/30 "2013-04-23T06:12:38Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Yes, your friend is crazy (perhaps somewhat severely). There is no such thing as “Morgellon’s.” There is such a thing as somatoform disorders (once known as hysteria). A close friend was “diagnosed” with Morgellon’s after a number of doctors failed to properly diagnose her skin condition as having to do with her malfunctioning thyroid. She was “diagnosed” by a homeopathic practitioner, not a medical doctor. After struggling with one remedy after another for close to three years, she was finally properly diagnosed and treated. Only when her skin cleared up in a matter of a few days after beginning treatment, she sheepishly admitted that she’d been desperate to find answers when the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and as a result, she’d been duped by the Internet. I think part of the problem is that she did indeed get a bit hysterical when routine doctors could find no proper diagnosis or treatment. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/31 "2013-04-23T14:43:43Z")
The term “psychosomatic” is often used incorrectly to mean “they are imagining things” or “it’s not real.” It means that there is a psychological cause for genuine physical symptoms, such as back pain caused by stress. Psychosomatic illness is different than a psychiatric disorder. IANAD, I just like to read. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/32 "2013-04-23T15:29:09Z")
> [@michaeltangelo](#): > > this was the first time I had heard it labeled as Morgellan’s. For what it’s worth, it’s spelled Morgellon’s (with an “o”). Although correctly spelling a word popularized by crazy people for something that doesn’t exit may be too nit-picky for most people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/33 "2013-04-23T17:40:02Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > For what it’s worth, it’s spelled Morgellon’s (with an “o”). Although correctly spelling a word popularized by crazy people for something that doesn’t exit may be too nit-picky for most people. 🙂 With a condition like Morgellons, you can’t be too nit-picky. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/34 "2013-04-23T17:49:57Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > [QUOTE=Jackmannii] > > Actually, I’m a pathologist, which makes me uniquely qualified to render psychiatric diagnoses. Well, it does in this case, since you’re the guy who says, “Nope, there is nothing physically there to cause this itch.” [/QUOTE] Actually, he’s the guy who says “Nope, there **was** nothing physically there to cause this itch.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/35 "2013-04-23T19:14:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Actually, he’s the guy who says “Nope, there **was** nothing physically there to cause this itch.” We docs often cut bits off of people to study under the microscope without actually killing 'em, you know. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/36 "2013-04-23T19:39:48Z")
Yeah, so what did you find in my foreskin? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/37 "2013-04-23T21:24:02Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > The term “psychosomatic” is often used incorrectly to mean “they are imagining things” or “it’s not real.” It means that there is a psychological cause for genuine physical symptoms, such as back pain caused by stress. Psychosomatic illness is different than a psychiatric disorder. > > IANAD, I just like to read. I’m not a doctor either, but I’d disagree with this in a couple of ways. Psychosomatic certainly can mean something that is only imagined by the sufferer\*, and psychosomatic symptoms can certainly coincide with or be caused by a psychiatric disorder. - Which is not to say that they’re faking it or lying in any way. If your mental illness causes you to perceive parasites, then you’re not lying when you say that you perceive parasites. It’s just that the perceptions are caused by your mind and not a parasite. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/38 "2013-04-24T22:32:59Z")
I had symptoms of Morgellons about five years ago. I looked up the symptoms, and that was the first time I ever heard of Morgellons, so it was not psychosomatic unless I had subconsciously heard of the symptoms without remembering it, which I will not rule out. A couple of years later, the symptoms went away. ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/39 "2013-07-17T23:21:44Z")
I’m late to the party, but I thought the following might be of some value to future Morgellons discussions. Granted, only 4 subjects were involved, but I think the analysis of their “dermal filaments” and the authors’ detection of spirochetes in these subjects are fairly compelling. (Note that the authors consider the presence of “dermal filaments” to be the premier characteristic of Morgellons. If you ain’t got filaments, you got something else.) > [@](#): > > Middelveen et al. Characterization and evolution of dermal filaments from patients with Morgellons disease. _Clin. Cosmet. Investig. Dermatol._ 6: 1-21, 2013. > > **Abstract** > Morgellons disease is an emerging skin disease characterized by formation of dermal filaments associated with multisystemic symptoms and tick-borne illness. Some clinicians hypothesize that these often colorful dermal filaments are textile fibers, either self-implanted by patients or accidentally adhering to lesions, and conclude that patients with this disease have delusions of infestation. We present histological observations and electron microscopic imaging from representative Morgellons disease samples revealing that dermal filaments in these cases are keratin and collagen in composition and result from proliferation and activation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts in the epidermis. Spirochetes were detected in the dermatological specimens from our study patients, providing evidence that Morgellons disease is associated with an infectious process. > > Free full text available at > > [Characterization and evolution of dermal filaments from patients with Morgellons disease - PMC](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3544355/) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855/40 "2013-07-17T23:35:19Z")
Or maybe [sebaceous filaments?](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/130839). (From a recent thread.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-morgellan-syndrome-real-or-psychosomatic/641855.md?page=3)