Delusions of Parasitosis

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I suffered from this for well over twenty years and didn't even realise.

I only gradually came to the realisation that I do not have parasites living on my skin in the last 18 months, or so.

It started in '86 or '87 when two work colleagues told me that they thought that I may have head-lice. I didn't have head-lice, I have never had head-lice, they were mistaken.

Unfortunately the psychological damage was done. Resulting in me being utterly convinced, that, no matter what various doctor's & specialists told me to the contrary, I had head-lice.

This caused me many problems over the years, chief amongst them, relatioships, or my refusal to take-up any of the offers of either; sex, dates or similar ( except on rare occasions where I was drunk with an unfamiliar woman ), for fear of passing-on my "infestation".

Needless to say that I found this to be super-depressing & the fact that I kept it all to myself from the age of 16/17 to 40, has really damaged me further, I feel.

It has been a horrible ordeal. Just venting, sorry.

Am I alone in suffering from this kind of delusion?

I was bullied about that i had parasited in my head throughout my childhood, while reality is that i have a very dry scalp which caused dandruff, visible even just after washing my hair. And i then believed that it had something to do with lice.

Not delusions of parasitosis but another somatic type of delusion. I thought I had tumors somewhere....and I told it to friends and sometimes even random people...I medicated myself with cancer medication. One apparently had side effects and I began throwing up and feeling dizzy (e.g. when attending uni). I went to doctors but they couldn't find anything. I was adamant that they just hadn't looked right. One day, I realized that this wasn't real when someone I really appreciate, pointed out to me that I might be a hypochondriac.
I also had another kind of delusion which I won't recount here. Needlessly to say, It could've damaged my career (it probably did damage somewhere but maybe not, better not think about it in this way ever until I see and hear direct, clear evidence).
(Here's a DD thread:
link)

Hopefully the medication didn't harm you.

50% of the world population has toxoplasmosis gondi, the cat pooh parasite

Many babies from developed nations are born with disorders because of the prevalence of cats

The French have a very high incidence of Toxo, around 80% due to their consumption of undercooked meats

In countries like Africa and Indonesia, parasite related health problems are extremely common.

People used to regularly dose their children, their pets and themselves every year. This practise has been largely forgotten.