The Fear of Infestations and Bug Bites

One guy in a courtroom with bedbugs crawling on him caused a panic and an ensuring mass psychosis.  
They evacuated the courtroom where he was and many people felt itchy long after he was gone and the place was sprayed.  I can tell you right now I would have reacted the same way.  Bed bugs, fleas, scabies, chiggers, or whatever gets on you are enough to drive you crazy.  How do you cope with them.  First off, stay away from any place you know that has had problems.  If you do suspect you've been exposed to any of these vermin each has a method of coping to prevent or rid your home and yourself of the problem.

Bed bugs are bad news because it costs big bucks to fix the problem unless you get lucky.  The DIY methods is to Seal the mattresses in plastic, put boric acid in all baseboard cracks  and under furniture, and spray with some type of insecticide like flea spray.  The problem with this is that it won't be guaranteed to work.  Oh, and wash all sheets and consider dumping your pillows.  You may have to do this multiple times.  Worst case, call an exterminator that uses heat treatment.  Risk includes insecticide poisoning due to personal exposure which is a bad health risk.

Department of Health Infected with Bedbugs
 
Scabies require skin treatment with some type of bug specific cream by prescription.  An old cure is to mix shortening with sulfur powder and apply it to your skin.  Risk with the shortening method is to look stupid as hell with this on you and you have to stay home.  I have no idea whether there is a risk to your health from rubbing yourself down with shortening.
 
Fleas are relatively easy.  Spray  and if you have a major infestation, use a bug bomb but be sure to do it safely.   Risk:  Some people have blown up their dwellings due to gas pilots or other devices that cause an explosion when used incorrectly.  Don't breathe the sprays or bug bombs or you will get sick and may have to visit the emergency room for treatment.

Mosquito are an annoyance but carry risk of infection.  Now as a result of research you can find out why you seem more vulnerable to bites from mosquito than others.  My suggestion for dealing with mosquito is to get a Bug Tamer outfit.  It actually does work.   West Nile Spreading.
 Another thing that may help is an essential oil that may work better than deet without the risk chemicals offer.  I still use deet to spray clothing and hats and try to keep it off my skin.

Chiggers are easy.  Put fingernail polish over the bites and smother them.  Risk: Make sure you're not allergic to the polish.  Don't use pink if you are a guy and have bites all over your legs and then wear shorts or people will make assumptions.  Avoid inhaling the fumes from the polish.

Ticks are bad news because they are hard to detect and spread numerous dangerous and potentially deadly and debilitating infections.   The list of diseases spread by ticks is long and increasing daily.  A lot of what you think you know about ticks is either incorrect or based on the limited information surrounding them as far as research goes.  Here is my advice based on proven protection from them.  If you have a choice stay out of the woods or grass but the truth is that they can sense skin oil scent and therefore will wait on a door knob of a shed, a gate post,  or piece of wood on the ground that you touch.    Protective measures.  Spray the area around you home with insecticide.  Keep the grass cut low and avoid shaded areas.  Wear white clothing with pants and shirts tucked in.  You can see even the smallest deer tick on white clothing where you couldn't see it on blue jeans.  Spray your boots and socks and even your pants with deet based repellent so it will help repel mosquito and keep ticks from sensing your scent.  Pyrethrin based sprays also work but are very toxic to insects and is not recommend on your skin so be careful with that.  Bug Tamer outfits also work against ticks but since they are dark or camouflaged you will have to still check for ticks and put the clothes in a place where the ticks are killed such as plastic bag a hot car.  If you have dogs they are a serious vector for exposing yourself to ticks even if you don't go in the woods.

How to remove a tick.

Tickinfo - I found this site very useful and in particular how to use permethrin and deet.


Disclaimer
These are personal remedies that have worked in the past but consider this information only for ideas to generate further research.  This is not medical advice and is not intended to be used but to give rise to questions on how to solve various infestations.