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Delusional Infestation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2018

T. M. Reilly
T. M. Reilly*
Affiliation:
The Retreat, 107 Heslington Road, York YO1 5BN, UK
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Extract

The skin is by far the largest organ of the body and it performs a variety of important functions. In both a concrete and symbolic sense the skin serves as a boundary separating the inner person from the outer world, self from non-self. It is evident therefore that cutaneous awareness is a central part of overall body image. It should be no surprise to learn how frequently real, imaginary or factitious dermal-pathology may occur in association with psychiatric disorder. The false idea that something is alive and moving in the skin has been presented to dermatologists and, to a lesser extent, psychiatrists for many years. It has attracted a ready psychodynamic explanation based on the concept of somatisation of emotional experience, and taking into account the symbolic function of the target organ.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 153 , Issue S2: The Psychopathology of Body Image , 1988 , pp. 44 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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