Flea Delusions

I've been reading about the unfortunate condition delusory parasitosis in May R. Berenbaum's book, "Bugs in the System". The condition is where people imagine bugs crawling on or in their bodies. The patient can be so convinced that they can actually persuade others that they have bugs on them too.

May writes of Spanish Film Maker, Luis Brunel's autobiography where he mentions a visit to see Salvador Dali in Montmatre.

'I found him stripped to the waist, an enormous bandage on his back. Apparently he thought he'd felt a "flea" or some other strange beast and had attacked his back with a razor blade. Bleeding profusely, he got the hotel manager to call a doctor, only to discover that the "flea" was in reality a pimple.'

Reference:

May R. Berenbaum: Bugs in the System 1995, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Bunel, Luis., 1982. My Last Sigh. New York: Vintage