What is your approach in counseling a patient with delusions of parasitosis?  

Delusions of parasitosis (DOP) or delusions of infestation (DOI) are among the most challenging conditions we treat as dermatologists. I am not sure there is one approach to treating these patients and it can often feel very frustrating and unsatisfying. Nonetheless, we all will encounter these pati...

These are my favorite patients to take care of and are some of the easiest patients to take care of in dermatology. This only applies to patients with isolated "delusions of parasitosis" not to patients with DOP as a manifestation of complex underlying psychopathology. And incidentally, I don't call...

After ruling out other diagnostic possibilities, and addressing any underlying conditions, I counsel patients with delusions of parasitosis by first validating their experience of distressing symptoms and explaining that since the workup was unrevealing (if this is the case), we can treat with a med...