Exterminators Are Treating Bedbug Anxiety As Well As The Bugs

 The bedbug invasion doesn't seem to be getting much better and that's frightening people, especially where the infestations are the worst, like New York city. Because of their growing resistance to pesticides, and the popular desire to use fewer pesticides unless necessary, the problem continues to grow. The exterminators are being kept very busy
   . . . June


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Bedbug Anxieties Force Exterminators to Play Psychologist
Yahoo! News:

When exterminators arrive at bedbug-infested homes, they need to prepare themselves to vanquish more than just the pests. Waiting at the door are often hysterical homeowners, strung out from sleep deprivation, who need their anxieties eliminated along with the creepy critters.

Among the most personal of parasites, bedbugs inspire such terror because they attack during sleep, sucking out bits of blood and leaving itchy welts - and emotional scars - in their place.

The latest resurgence, heavily reported nationwide, in private dwellings and public landmarks alike, has unquestionably been a boon to the pest control industry's bottom line. But it has also required exterminators to don a second hat as on-the-spot psychologists for panicked clients

"Bedbug customers are uniformly pretty intense and most of them are exasperated," said C.W. Mayberry, service manager with Alexandria Pest Services in Alexandria, Va. "They want it gone and they want it gone now, but I have to explain that an instant fix isn't possible. I wish I had a magic wand, but I don't."

Treatment options
A typical treatment course consists of two or three pesticide applications over a two-week period, Mayberry said. Homeowners must also spend a significant amount of time before treatment bagging up personal belongings such as clothes and bedding, which should be machine-dried on the hottest setting for at least 20 minutes.

Hungry hitchhikers that they are, bedbugs - which do not carry disease - often spread by stowing away in travelers' luggage, and once established they hide around bed frames and mattresses, furniture, curtains and carpet edges.

Their presence, however, does not signal uncleanliness - a worry that seems to torment many hapless homeowners. Because of the stigma, pest professionals are often pummeled with a set of demands that offset their customers' embarrassment before even inspecting a home.


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