In Leslie Jamison’s “Devil’s Bait”, the author discusses her trip to Austin for a conference, where she met people who claim themselves to have Morgellons. Morgellons is a disease which the common symptom is to have strange fibers emerge from the skin. But Morgellons has never been diagnosed and most of the doctors suggest that Morgellons is simply a delusion from drugs. The people who get ignored from the doctors assemble the Morgellons which lead to this conference to let them share their stories. During the conference, different “patients” describe how they suffer from Morgellons mentally and physically which aroused the empathy from Jamison. She related to herself and began to wonder if she has Morgellons too. The author concluded in the end that without knowing if this disease exists or not, all she can do for those people is to feel empathy.
The empathy that the author discussed in the essay has risen up the question whether people should feel empathy without reasoning? The importance of this question is that it leads us to think if the patients’ stories truly evoke empathy or simply fear. The author has clearly explained that she does not think Morgellons really exists. The reason that the author feels empathy for those people is that she understands their suffering and is afraid of it. The growing fear that these stories bring makes Jamison related to her own experience. Jamison thought about when she found there was a worm in her ankle, after taking it out, she constantly felt like there were more worms hidden in there. This experience leads her to fear about Morgellons happen to herself which leads to empathize with the people who have Morgellons. But what if the disease does not exist and the stories have been exaggerated, is the empathy she feels real or not.

Jamison, Leslie, et al. “The Devil’s Bait.” Harper’s Magazine.