Do you know that expression “makes your skin crawl”? That is not just a figure of speech. Skin crawling is a medical condition called ‘Formication’. When your skin crawls, it feels like there is an insect underneath your skin when, in fact, there is no such thing.
Formication is a tactile hallucination. It is difficult to convince a patient with formication that the bugs they feel underneath their skin are not actual. This makes this condition extremely hard to treat as it is more of a mental problem than a physical one.
What causes skin to crawl?
Sometimes, the cause of formication could be simply watching a movie with lots of bugs, like spiders, for example. You suddenly get the feeling that the spiders are all over you, but that is far from the truth. Turning off the movie can stop that feeling, but in some cases, it could be due to some underlying causes.
Formication can stand alone as a psychological disorder, or it could be a symptom of other psychological disorders, such as Neurological conditions or mental psychosis. It could also be due to physical factors like the use of hard drugs or the side effects of prescribed medications.
Generally, skin-crawling sensation could be the cause of;
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Use of Cocaine and methamphetamines
It could also be a side effect of medications that treat;
– Parkinson’s disease
– Dementia
– Stroke
– Delirium
– Multiple sclerosis
– Serious Brain Injury
Symptoms of skin crawling
The skin-crawling feeling does not just end at the feeling of bugs under your skin; it also comes with;
– Itching
– Feelings of pins and needles under your skin
– Pricking
– Tingling.
It is expected that patients will scratch or bruise themselves. This is especially dangerous because their reaction to this hallucination can cause severe injuries to their bodies.
How to stop skin crawling feeling
The skin-crawling feeling is more mental than actual, making treatment difficult. Assuring a patient that the insect underneath their skin isn’t real won’t cut it. It may take several sessions with a licensed mental specialist to eradicate the feeling. Mind you, these sessions will only work if the patient is willing to believe that the feeling is, in fact, not real.
When medications or drugs cause formication, treatment is a lot simpler. Measures your doctor might suggest include;
- Stop the use of hard drugs
- Stopping prescribed medications or reducing the dosage
- Providing alternative medications with fewer side effects
- Body detoxification to eliminate all complex drug substances.
- Adhering to all advice from your doctor or mental health specialist.
Skin crawling is a dangerous condition for most patients. There have been incidents with patients cutting themselves open to eliminate the imaginary bug. This could lead to severe injuries or, worse, loss of life.
Skin crawling is a form of tactile hallucination called formication; it could be caused by mental disorders or a side effect of various medications.
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