«La piel que habito»: a propósito de un caso de síndrome de Ekbom

Abstract

The Ekbom's syndrome or delusion of parasitosis is characterized by the firm belief of being infested, generating behavioral impacts such as the fact of presenting injuries from scratching or investing almost all of their time in disinfecting, as in the case that we describe below. Few studies have been published on this delusion, generally from specific patients. The typical presentation of the case is a middle-aged woman, who goes to the dermatologist or internist's department. The appeareance of anxious-depressive symptoms, consistent with the delusional belief, are frequent. It is known that the prognosis improves considerably when the symptomatic period prior to treatment is very short. Therefore, in order to make a good diagnosis and therapeutic management, it is important to establish close collaboration between the different health professionals.