No answer. The payload of the article turned out to be the journalist's rumination on his existential anxieties, followed by a few loose ends tied into a makeshift bow and a shoutout for his forthcoming book. Most disappointing.
I don't believe in Morgellon's syndrome (or rather, I don't believe most of the explanations that are offered for it), but I feel a lot of sympathy towards people who are struggling with it, as I have an occasional recurring OCD itch that is annoying both as a physical itch and a psychosomatic one. I manage to stop scratching, the skin gradually heals, everything is fine, and then some months or years later some casual micro-abrasion sets it off again, the same way an exposed piece of velcro seems to actively pick up lint.
I don't believe in Morgellon's syndrome (or rather, I don't believe most of the explanations that are offered for it), but I feel a lot of sympathy towards people who are struggling with it, as I have an occasional recurring OCD itch that is annoying both as a physical itch and a psychosomatic one. I manage to stop scratching, the skin gradually heals, everything is fine, and then some months or years later some casual micro-abrasion sets it off again, the same way an exposed piece of velcro seems to actively pick up lint.