I would like to start this post with a challenge. Can you get through this entire post WITHOUT feeling itchy? I know I couldn't even write the first line. And I'm not alone. Itch is contagious. Watching someone else scratch can make you itch, and you should try to get through a lecture on a skin condition. I wonder how dermatologists can take it.What IS an itch? The clinical definition is that it's an "unpleasant sensation associated with the urge to scratch". Ok, then. Itching is a very important part of clinical diagnosis, from things like poison ivy to allergies to severe use of methamphetamine. In addition, there is a psychological disorder of severe itch which can be both disfiguring and incredibly distressing. [More]














Source: You scratch, I scratch! The social contagion of itch.