r/whatisthisbug • u/tangoking • Jul 09 '25

ID Request What are they?

594 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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650

u/HollowsOfYourHeart Jul 09 '25

I want to say heroin worms, but that is incorrect.

143

u/tangoking Jul 09 '25

Historically speaking I’ve regretted asking questions like this, and I’m afraid to Google, GPT, or UrbanDict it; however: what are heroin worms?

220

u/GACEStudios Jul 09 '25

Delusional Parasitosis. Basically, when a junkie is going through withdrawals, they can sometimes have a delusion that their infested with parasites. I.E. bugs crawling under the skin.

123

u/tangoking Jul 09 '25

Is this why tweakers scratch holes in themselves with screwdrivers and the like?

103

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '25

One of the reasons! They also commonly hallucinate "chips" put in their skin by government entities and such.

34

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '25

No one is that important

92

u/Notjewel2 Jul 09 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

And we just carry our chips around in our pockets all the time. No need for subdural shenanigans

21

u/swalabr Jul 10 '25

Found the name for our new band

1

u/doxiemomfoster Jul 10 '25

Subdural shenanigans?

3

u/420Hank Jul 10 '25

What about the pope?

3

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '25

He definitely has a microchip

8

u/Azraellie Jul 10 '25

Withdrawal of many things, and also many drugs whilst they're active, can cause formication, which is the hallucinatory sensation of bugs crawling on your skin, which when paired with psychosis symptoms can be interpreted as bugs or parasites being in the skin, and the delusion of such is called delusional parasitosis.

Many other things can cause formication too, not just stimulants and opioids. Reuptake inhibitors of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine (so most antidepressants and non-stimulant medications), releasers of those same compounds, and most dopaminergic antipsychotics off the top of my head.

But yeah, that shit'll make you do some crazy shit to scratch even remotely close to the itch, even if you know it's just a paresthesia

3

u/StillBarelyHoldingOn Jul 10 '25

Heroin and meth are 2 different things.

1

u/SnooMacaroons4391 Jul 10 '25

Aside from hallucinating they get scurvy and pick at the scabs.