Yes, I found the primary torture of having bedbugs is psychological. The slightest movement on your skin sets you off on a panicked bug hunt when it's really ju

Yes, I found the primary torture of having bedbugs is psychological. The slightest movement on your skin sets you off on a panicked bug hunt when it's really just an errant hair, or maybe a loose thread. Unfortunately, since we are hairy mammals and as the hair on our head tends to fall off all the time, and because hair tends to find its way inside our clothes and stick to our skin, there are hundreds of these sensations every day. The other problem is, hair is fine and we tend not to see it and assume it was just a bug that got away. This quickly makes you paranoid, and soon interferes with your ability to sleep soundly, which soon makes you irritated and eventually starts affecting your work. One of the first things to do when discovering an infestation is to realize this psychological problem and actively deal with it. As for dealing with the bedbugs themselves, search for "the Missouri Method". It essentially consists of making it impossible for the bugs to reach you as you sleep, which 1) gives you instantaneous relief from bites, 2) avoids having to hunt all their hiding places, and 3) disrupts their lifecycle, which over a period of few weeks, kills them. Keeping them away typically involves the use of plastic or other smooth surfaces where their legs can't get a grip. Note that the online tutorials go somewhat overboard, in my experience: you don't need airtight seals everywhere. I managed to treat the problem successfully simply by covering my mattresses and bed with a plastic sheet ($10 roll at Home Depot) and running packing tape horizontally along the walls (to keep them from getting onto the ceilings and dropping on to you; yes, they do that). A bed-sheet on top of the plastic sheeting provides little comfort, and the crackling of the plastic is really annoying, but the peace of mind knowing that bugs can't get to you will give you the best sleep you've had in weeks.