<p>The name you are looking for is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication" rel="noreferrer">Formication</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Formication is the medical term for a sensation that exactly resembles that of small insects crawling on (or under) the skin. It is one specific form of a set of sensations known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paresthesia" rel="noreferrer">paresthesias</a>, which also include the more common prickling, tingling sensation known as "pins and needles". Formication is a well documented symptom, which has numerous possible causes.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-18T00:59:32.633Z
2017-02-18T00:59:32.633Z
Chris Rogers
<p>Sometimes when people talk in public about cockroaches, for example, it happens for some people to feel the skin itching and yet, no cockroaches were there. Is there a name for this phenomenon?</p>

<cognitive-psychology>
Why some people feel their skin itching when they're told about insects and no insects happen to be nearby?
Red Banana
# Why some people feel their skin itching when they're told about insects and no insects happen to be nearby?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-11-19)

Sometimes when people talk in public about cockroaches, for example, it happens for some people to feel the skin itching and yet, no cockroaches were there. Is there a name for this phenomenon?

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-02-18. Score: 4

The name you are looking for is [Formication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication).

> Formication is the medical term for a sensation that exactly resembles that of small insects crawling on (or under) the skin. It is one specific form of a set of sensations known as [paresthesias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paresthesia), which also include the more common prickling, tingling sensation known as "pins and needles". Formication is a well documented symptom, which has numerous possible causes.


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