One of the most awful things about bed bugs is the way that they traumatize your thoughts for weeks or months, even after you’ve successfully gotten rid of them. If you’ve ever had bed bugs in the past, you can probably relate. You’ve fought them off, and you won! Your house is clean and no one has had any more bed bug bites.
However, despite your logic telling you that the bed bug episode is over, you can’t help feeling jumpy and suspicious and a lot more creepy crawly than you did before. A little itch when you’re going to bed suddenly becomes a big deal, causing your thoughts to race and your heart to pound.
“Is that a bed bug? I think I just felt one on me. What is that crawling feeling? I literally feel something crawling on my skin. Is it just my imagination? What is wrong? Am I going crazy?”
If you’ve ever felt like this, you are NOT alone. Our pest extermination clients in the Rio-Grande Valley have won the bed bug battle in their mattresses and carpets, but winning the battle in the mind is a whole different matter. Here are some tips from our pest control service in Harlingen for what to do if the thought of bed bugs simply won’t leave you alone.
- Realize that you’re not alone. Many of our clients have shed tears more than once due to the strain of having bed bugs and trying to fight against them.
- Recognize that having bed bugs is scary and upsetting, so it’s natural to be scared and upset.
- Bed bugs disrupt your sleep because you can’t fall asleep peacefully like you used to. Instead, your mind is on high alert, waiting and looking for that feeling of crawling feet that will make you jump up, switch on the light, and throw the covers back in the attempt to catch the little critter in the act.
- Losing your sleep leads to a vicious cycle where you feel extra emotional, because now you’re not just stressed out, you’re also extra sleep-deprived.
This state of mental high-alert at night will go down, but sometimes you can’t just turn it off at will. You may have to play games with your brain at first to trick it into going to sleep. People have tried everything from distracting themselves with compelling thoughts on other topics to telling themselves that they didn’t care if they got bitten that night and it was perfectly acceptable to feel creepy crawly. Experiment with what works for you, and don’t lose hope. - Paint your house. It sounds really weird, but it works. If you’ve been struggling without success against the mental battle of bed bugs, rather than trying to trick your brain into being at peace again, painting your house gives you a real reason to feel absolutely comfortable that the bed bugs are indeed gone. You’ve covered all your walls with a fresh, clean coat of paint, and while you were at it, you had to move all the furniture away from the walls, giving you the chance to give them an extra deep cleaning. You’ll regain the peace of mind that lets you feel secure again in your own home.
Our pest control service is here to truly eradicate insects from your home, including bed bugs, termites, bees, and more. Please call us today to schedule your service.
