Ekbom syndrome – case study Case report
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Abstract
A case of a 68-year-old woman suffering from delusional parasitosis is described. The patient was admitted to the psychiatry department because of belief of parasitic infection. The patient revealed the delusional parasitosis and received antipsychotic treatment resulting in remission. Delusional parasitosis (Ekbom syndrome) is a condition where a person has the unwavering mistaken belief of being infested with parasites. Patients give detailed descriptions of the activity and offending parasites: crawling, biting, burrowing. According to the contemporary ICD-10 diagnostic criteria, the delusional parasitosis is a disorder which belongs to organic hallucinosis that are usually attached to lonely, old women. In such cases, a therapeutic process using antipsychotic treatment is necessary.
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