Psychogenic Itching
Psychogenic Itching is a real thing and I didn’t even realize that is what was going on with me until recently. As a therapist, I am constantly learning. I learn through trainings, watching other therapist, from clients, and personal experiences.
A few years ago, I tried EMDR and it was not a great experience, for me. I wanted to get trained in it but I wanted to experience before I got trained. For me, it helps me to help my clients to understand, completely, what I am asking of them if I have already gone through it. Also, I had some things I couldn’t remember and this is what was recommended to me.
EMDR Session One
I had already had the initial screening done, so I skipped that (I had to change from a telehealth therapist to an in person therapist for this) part and moved straight to the tappers. There are several different methods, but the tappers are the ones that I resonated with the most.
For the first session, I was supposed to go to the first and worst memory. I did that, in a dark room, being guided by a therapist, with my eyes closed, and my tappers in hand. That one memory is not what my mind went to…it went to something COMPLETELY different and I began randomly itching during this process.
The process is exhausting, like I went home and slept for 12 straight hours. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting and that is just how my body tends to react after I’ve had intense therapy. This is not unusual, for me, but the itching continued when I got home.
EMDR Session Two
The second session, I started itching when I pulled into the parking lot. Honestly, I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, I have allergies. However, when we started again, I began to take a bit more notice.
As we began this process and I continued to do as I was instructed by the therapist, my mind would take a 360 and I would be entering a realm that I didn’t want to be in, in that moment. Again, I began itching here and there. However, my itching was more intense and it was so often that even the therapist noticed.
At one point, fighting the memories, fighting the exhaustion, fighting my mind, itching like crazy, I threw the tappers to the floor and told her that I was done. This was less than 5 minutes after beginning.
The therapist was shocked that I reacted that way and was just as confused as I was. She was young, fresh in her practice and I’m not the easiest client in the world. She was new to EMDR and I was new plus “therapizing” a therapist is hard.
EMDR Session Three
My itching, for the third session, began driving to the appointment. By the time I got there, I had hives and had welps everywhere. I told my therapist that we were not going to do EMDR but try to figure out what the issue was because this was ridiculous.
She said that she had never encountered anything like my itching before and that she was going to address it with her supervisor before we proceeded any further in EMDR. We process things and talked things through. At the end of the day, by session 4, her supervisor didn’t know and neither did she. I was “out of her scope” and she referred me to someone more seasoned.
That was the end of my EMDR experience. It works for some people. For me, it is not something I will try or something I will get trained in. I have done further research and it is not something I want to pursue.
Psychogenic Itching
Psychogenic Itching, in short, is rare (shocker) and is not diagnosed often and poorly understood by the medical world. It is brought on by psychological distress (OCD, anxiety, depression, stress) that causes the body to have the sensation to itch.
Once you calm down, the itching sensation subsides. Due to the circumstances that you may face that is causing this sensation, there are things that you can do to calm your body down. A person, in order to calm down, could take their medication, drink cold water, eat a protein, get some exercise, or rest.
There are occasions when I will have hives that are flush to my skin as a physical reaction to stress or anxiety as well. My hives don’t itch. When I get completely stirred up, my whole body will itch, I will feel heat in my chest/face and hives will start emerging, I will get hot, have stomach problems or I will want to just throw up. My psoriasis will also flair up. I currently have patches on my face and all over my legs.
You are Not Crazy
If this happens to you, you are not crazy. You are just going through a hard time. Remember the things you can do to help yourself:
- cool shower
- nap
- drink cold water
- eat a protein
- exercise
- stand in the sun
- do something relaxing
- take your medication
- talk to your counselor, therapist, or medical professional
You are not alone and ou are okay. You are normal. Crappy things happen; we can’t control the actions of others but we can control our actions. Picture you with a hula hoop around you. Whatever you can, comfortably, fit inside your hula hoop is what you can control. If it is outside your hula hoop, walk away. It is not your circus and they are not your monkeys.
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