# Re : What's up with people who think they're infested with bugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [October 12, 2000, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629 "2000-10-12T03:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nossac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/54ee81/32.png) [@nossac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nossac)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/1 "2000-10-12T03:21:42Z")
From what I ahve heard there is a condition called Scabies, This is caused by a particular little bug that sometimes burrows through the epidermis, its waste can cause an irritating rash, I talked to my local GP who confirmed this. So people can indeed be infested with bugs… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/2 "2000-10-12T07:36:27Z")
[What’s up with people who think they’re infested with bugs?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000623.html) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/3 "2000-10-12T15:38:57Z")
Yes, people _can_ be infested with bugs. I myself have had lice and mites. I’m sure you’ll all be clamoring to visit my house this weekend. However, the point of the column is that there are people who _think_ they are infested, but an examination by a dermatologist confirms that they are not. I am fascinated by this phenomenon. I think of it as a there-but-for-the-grace-of-God thing. You know, I’m laying in bed at night, and I feel an itch. And I scratch it. And that gets me to thinking about itching. And pretty soon I have an itch somewhere else. “I’m not going to scratch it”, I think. But it gets unbearable. So I start scratching. And I’m itching everywhere and I’m scratching. Now, if I thought I’d seen little bugs in my bedding last time I changed the sheets, boy, would that get me to thinking. . . and I’d probably start itching everywhere, all the time, and I’d keep scratching, and I’d end up scratching so hard I’d draw blood, and _then_, THEN I’d have scabs! Scabs everywhere! See! It’s proof! PROOF! They’re burrowing in my skin I tell you! Well, anyway, it hasn’t happened yet. But if I do go nuts, I’m pretty sure that’s how it’ll happen. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2000, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/4 "2000-10-12T16:01:00Z")
saddest case I’ve personally come across was a client. I’d known her for about a decade or so, she’d been a drug abuser for that length of time. The last time she came out of prison, she had this twitch to her head, where suddenly her head would jerk to one side. She’d gone to the doctors (such as they are there) inside, and they’d not come up with any physical reason, so they told her it was psychological. She was saving up her own money to pay for a CAT scan and an EKG because she \*\* knew \*\* for certain that what was happening was she had tiny beings inside her head and they were tugging at her jaw. She \*\* knew \*\* that an EKG and CAT scan would show these beings existed. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/5 "2000-10-13T02:20:35Z")
Geez, **wring** , that’s a sad case. I really sympathise with that woman. How terrible would it be to feel that there’s something living inside you and controlling you? I hope she can find help. Hopefully the docs she goes to for the CAT scan can steer her toward someone. . . or, who knows, maybe they will find something physically wrong, finally. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/6 "2000-10-13T11:46:14Z")
well, the Department of Corrections wasn’t going to order the tests. and last I knew (about 8 years ago), she was heading back to prison. I sent her property to her Mother in another state several years later. Yea, really sad case. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/7 "2000-10-13T16:16:28Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by **bibliophage**. * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![Zita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Zita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zita)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2003, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-whats-up-with-people-who-think-theyre-infested-with-bugs/36629/8 "2003-01-06T08:16:52Z")
I think it is very sad that a lot of these people do have mites or worms and Drs. take their hard earned money to tell them they are DOP, and they are not. I also think it is very sad that Cecil has called them lunatics. If a Dr. says your DOP without checking you out, who is the real lunatic? If Cecil can call them names because he read something in a book or choose the craziest posts he could find to comment on, maybe he is the lunatic. I went through the same thing, the lunatics finally convinced me I was crazy after 7 Drs. saying I was DOP, MAYO CLINIC found that I had a rare mite infestation. It took me 2 years to get rid of it and 2 people caught it from me. So I ask you, Who are the real lunatics?