What proof (AS IN EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE) exists that your friend has a mental disorder? Was she evaluated by a professional?

How can a non-psychiatrist diagnose a derm patient as having a psychiatric disorder? For example, a podiatrist shouldn't be telling a patient they have dental caries.

How can a mycologist, one who deals with molds in structures--not the human body--label someone as delusional? My NYU ear specialist told me that top rated, world-class NYU doesn't have the resources/access to resources to properly diagnose a fungi infection (esp. rare fungi) in my ear. Labs are limited in what they can identify by computer as the pathogen must be in their library. Only an experienced pathologist can hopefully identify what is not in the computer.

Remember that parasites move. It is almost impossible to know where a microscopic parasite might be residing in layers of human skin.

One dermatologist told me that the classic education for a condition that cannot produce test-derived positive results would, by default, be presumed to be delusions. In essence, doctors treat signs, not symptoms. This is probably to defend themselves against lawsuits.

Modern medicine is practiced by the book. If it's not in the book, it's not treated.

Think about it. Delusional parasitosis is a growing diagnosis because the way to bill for services where there is no evidence is to code for delusions. Delusional parasitosis is predominant among middle aged and older women, a group that has traditionally been easy to tag as hysterical and hypochondriac.

What "powerful drug" if I may ask is your friend taking that could "kill her?"

Ivermectin will give her some relief. It won't kill her. I recommend she try powder praziquantel, which is mild stuff compared to other drugs like permethrin. She could take it orally, but if she doesn't want to ingest it, then at least dissolve it in water and apply to lesions.

She needs systemic meds in combinations because parasites exist in different stages; drugs treat stages, not the species on the whole.

parasites can live a looooong time. She cannot pick this thing away.

Why are you here on CZ, and not she? This community can help her to cope.

There are some people that suffer from these types of delusions. It is possible that she had seen something parasitic that drove her to this point. It is easy to become totally obsessed with this if you don't step back and look at things logically. When you first find out that your infected with something then everything is suspect and can easily be mistaken for a parasite of some type.