Your Brain: Messing With You Since 1974.

[camwyn]

Today's least favourite word for camwyn is also her least favourite skin phenomenon:

Formication.

Look at the word closely before you make the comments, please. F-o-r-m-i-c-a-t-i-o-n. It has nothing to do with naughty matters. Formication is the sensation of insects, particularly ants, crawling over your skin. I have long been subject to odd prickles of tactile sensation that have nothing to do with what's actually going on- the feeling of having walked into a single strand of spiderweb, for instance, or the occasional pricklybit that doesn't mean much- but lately it's gotten out of hand. Not because of magnitude or intensity, but because every time I feel it across bare skin while I’m in my apartment, I have to look down and reassure myself that the Blattidae cucaracha from last month hasn't returned from the grave and brought its zombie friends.

No, I haven't seen a single roach since the one who died at the hands of Dr. Bronner. YOU try telling my brain to be logical sometime. See how long you have laughter ringing in your ears.

Comments

[crispengray.livejournal.com]

Many years ago (probably 10 or so), while drying myself off from the shower, I felt a crawling sensation on my arm. I looked, to discover a MASSIVE hairy brown spider on my arm, looking up at me.

I am arachnophobic. But this spider was large enough to probably disturb most non-arachnophobes. I panicked, and I somehow removed it from my arm, summoned my stepfather, who commented it was a big one, and killed it.

Even today, I doublecheck my towels when getting out of the shower. And formication twitches me out. Because I never know for sure that it isn't a giant demon spider.

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

Camwyn's Brain, be logical. *Starts Stopwatch*

[bohemian--storm.livejournal.com]

Eesh. I've never had that happen to me, but I hate bugs, so I imagine it's not fun. :(

[lpetrazickis.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the reason you haven't seen any roaches is that they have all been hiding inside your skull. Even now, an army of ever hungry insects is burrowing into your delicious brain, causing you to get crazier and crazier all the while consuming you irreplaceable brainmatter.

Or so I am told.

[camwyn]

As long as they don't mind sharing the space with Pamela (my muse, who as nearly as I can tell is an OCD Canadian woman with a tendency to leave post-it notes rather than talk), they're welcome to it. There's stuff in there not even a Jersey City roach can stomach.

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

I had that during an OCD hallucination once. I don't know if it's good or bad that there's a word for it.

ClassicDrogn

[(Anonymous)]

I find that the cause of this when it happens to me is generally that my clothing or something I brushed up against disturbed the body hair in whichever location and got it crossed up, and the wierd tickle is the skin moving as the crossed hairs slip loose a it later and resume their ordinary direction. I'm not overly hairy, either, at least not from what I've seen of other people. Maybe this corner of New Hampshire is just a sasquatch reservation and no one's told me...

- CD

[eor.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, come sit by the fire and I'll tell you my cockroach stories.

Or maybe you'd rather not.

[ocean-song.livejournal.com]

that's pretty normal for the skin to have that sensation much of the time but we learn to filter it out. cells splitting, nerves test firing and whatnot. It's only when there are BUGS that we become hyperaware of all that. I had the same thing when I have had ants or fleas in my house. EEK!

*hugs* and *super-bug-killing-with-my-laser-eyes-of-doom*