Psychiatry and Morgellons Disease

Psychiatric Arsenal Has Weapons Against Morgellons Disease

Joan Arehart-Treichel

What would you do to help a patient who tells you he or she has morgellons disease?

Most morgellon patients are flocking to dermatologists or family doctors rather than to psychiatrists because they believe that their condition is a skin disease, not of psychological origin. Yet if a patient should appear in your office asking for help, what should you do?

Some psychiatrists who have had contact with morgellons patients, delusional parasitosis patients, or both offer some suggestions.

Read the rest of the article here

New Morgellons Article

New article discusses various theories on Morgellons and what is currently being done.

Strange List of Symptoms Perplexes Patients, Doctors

Joan Arehart-Treichel

...
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is so concerned about the numbers of people said to be suffering from the illness that in June it set up a task force to look for its cause. The task force includes experts in infectious diseases, environmental toxicity, pathology, and psychiatry, said Dan Rutz, the CDC spokesperson for the task force, in an interview. The task force had expected to be up and running by now, Rutz admitted, "but we're just not.... It is just taking a long time to agree on the protocol with this many disciplines represented."
<sup>...

Read the rest of the article here</sup>

Do you have Morgellons Disease?

Common symptoms include:
Itching and/or stinging sensations on the skin
The sensation of crawling or biting, like there are bugs on or in the skin
The expulsion of fiberous material, similar to textile fibers (commonly known as Morgies)
Open lesions that are not healing and may exhibit black seed-like deposits
Difficulty concentrating or trouble remembering

The distinct combination of several or all of these symptoms may lead your diagnosis away from a simple parasite infestation and towards Morgellons. Treatment may be similar to that of a parasite infestation, though new treatments are sure to be developed and tested as further research is completed. Make sure to save samples, if possible, to bring with you to a doctor or dermatologist. Websites, such as the Morgellons Reasearch Foundation, have images to assist you in your self-diagnosis.

Morgellons Symptoms

I ran across a good site listing the symptoms of Morgellons along with 'daring presumptions' of what each symptom might be or might be caused by. They discuss fibers, fuzzballs, capsules, granules, worms, etc.

Check it out here: Morgellons European Information

Morgellons "CDC keeping an open mind"

Morgellons Attack!
by John Naish

MEDICAL experts in America are investigating a mystery epidemic with a sci-fi name, Morgellons, after hundreds of people have contacted internet sites claiming that they are suffering from it.
The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has formed aMorgellons task force after receiving up to 20 calls a day from victims citing a range of alien symptoms, from joint pain to gippy bowels.
Most describe crawling skin, sores, fatigue, brain fog and the appearance of small or microscopic fibres under the skin. Mary Leitao, who founded the Morgellons Research Foundation, claims that her son has the illness, and she found the symptoms described as Morgellons in a research paper from 1674.
Many doctors dismiss the condition as delusional. Dr Annette Matthews, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health & Science University, calls Morgellons a form of delusional parasitosis, a paranoid fear that creatures are living inside you.
The CDC is keeping an open mind on Morgellons. But humankind has a history of odd psychosomatic epidemics, especially at times of social stress. The Industrial Revolution brought us ;railway spine, a set of unverifiable pain symptoms, and in the Middle Ages we had the dancing plagues, where whole villages danced themselves into delirium. Could Morgellons have more to do with global terror?

Read the original article here

Symptoms are Symptoms, but is it Morgellons?

I ran across a good article review over at Morgellons Watch. They offer up some perspectives on the other side of Morgellons, that of parasitic delusions. They do not insist that it is all pure imagination, but recognize that patients are indeed suffering from physical trauma. What is the cause of their troubles is the real question and something that Morgellons sufferers need to realistically consider. Are they indeed afflicted with a mysterious disease or is it something else compounded by their unwillingness to follow doctors' advice. There is a distinct pattern of floating from doctor to doctor and accepting the first alternative advice, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, in search of a cure for Morgellons. However, research has yet to prove difinitively that this disease truly exists and, if so, can a cure be found.

For more on this review and the article follow this link to Morgellons Watch.

People Magazine Profiles Morgellons Sufferers

The December 18th issue of People Magazine contains an article discussing the controversial nature of Morgellons Disease.

Morgellons Research Foundation Registration Tops 8000 Households

With more than 8000 households registered with the MRF and the Oklahoma State Univeristy Center for Health Sciences conducting research, Morgellons Disease is slowly becoming more recognized by the mdeical community and the news media. Often diagnosed as a paranoid delusion, preliminary sample tests at OSU by Randy Wymore, Ph.D indicate that Morgellons may in fact be a biological infestation or multiple symptom syndrome. It is still likely that people suffering from Delusional Parasitosis and actual Morgellons sufferers will be difficult to separate in terms of diagnosis due to the similarity of symptoms. The most important item that can separate the two is to have actual sample evidence that can be tested to determine the treatment.

Morgellons Disease Appears to be Spreading

Though Morgellons is most prevalent in California, Texas, and Florida cases have been reported in all fifty states and even in other countries in Asia and Europe. According to the Morgellons Research Foundation, there are clusters of cases in Los Angeles, San Fransisco, San Jose, and San Diego in California as well as Houston, Dallas, and Austin Texas. It is not known whether it is the climate, population makeup, or certain traffic patterns are causing these localized breakouts. Ongoing research should be able to track down evidence inthe near future as the CDC is finally taking the matter more seriously.

Do you have Morgellons Disease?

Common symptoms include:
Itching and/or stinging sensations on the skin
The sensation of crawling or biting, like there are bugs on or in the skin
The expulsion of fiberous material, similar to textile fibers (commonly known as Morgies)
Open lesions that are not healing and may exhibit black seed-like deposits
Difficulty concentrating or trouble remembering

The distinct combination of several or all of these symptoms may lead your diagnosis away from a simple parasite infestation and towards Morgellons. Treatment may be similar to that of a parasite infestation, though new treatments are sure to be developed and tested as further research is completed. Make sure to save samples, if possible, to bring with you to a doctor or dermatologist. Websites, such as the Morgellons Reasearch Foundation, have images to assist you in your self-diagnosis.

Disease or Psychological Disorder?

The most pressing question regarding Morgellons is whether or not it is in fact a disease/parasite infestation or just something dreamed up by overactive imaginations. Often diagnosed as Delusional Parasitosis and treated as a mental illness or shrugged off by physicians, it is recognized by a few in the field as a widespread disease. Mary Leitao is credited with giving a name to this affliction and organizing the Morgellons Research Foundation to further research and research funding efforts. Others, discredit Morgellons as a catch-all blanket for people suffering from psychological disorders which perpetuates their belief. Morgellons Watch is a site dedicated to finding information that exposes this side of the argument.
Disease or simply a psychological disorder? Only time and research will be able to answer this question. For now people suffering from this affliction need to gather information and decide for themselves what is the best path to recovery.