Loading...Psychogenic dizziness can be diagnosed and differed from other types of dizziness based on its cause. Psychogenic dizziness occurs exclusively for psychological reasons. The development of this disease is in no way connected with any somatic disease or neurological pathology.
Most often, patients complain of a blurred vision or heavy head. Some patients describe symptoms as a condition similar to alcoholic intoxication. Others describe that they feel faint and malaise. Many people suffering from psychogenic dizziness complain that they experience fear: they are afraid to fall and get injured, they are afraid to lose consciousness, they worry that they might suddenly die.
The examinations of patients with suspicion of psychogenic dizziness usually detect anxious and phobic disorders, in particular: agoraphobia. Psychogenic dizziness is often observed with panic disorder. It is often accompanied by depressive states of various severities.
People can interpret dizziness as spontaneously arising and quickly disappearing sensations of illusory instability of body. Such experiences most often occur when a person crosses certain areas, for example: walking across the bridge, climbing up the stairs, crossing desert terrain. In agoraphobia, psychogenic dizziness occurs when a person moves away from one’s own home.
An unpleasant symptom can develop when person finds oneself is in a busy place: at supermarkets, at meetings, in the subway. The onset of the disease can occur immediately after stressful situation or it might develop under the influence of long-acting psychotraumatic factors.
The diseases manifested by psychogenic dizziness almost always include other psychotic symptoms such as:
- intense uncontrolled anxiety;
- unreasonable uncontrolled fear;
- high level of anxiety;
- tendency to worry about unimportant things;
- feeling of stress and restraint;
- irritability, nervousness;
- fussiness, impatience;
- inability to relax;
- frequent illogical mood swings.
People regularly experiencing symptoms of psychogenic dizziness often complain of difficulties with concentrating attention and memory impairments. These people cannot withstand long mental and physical efforts and very quickly get tired.
Psychogenic dizziness is very often accompanied by a variety of somatic and vegetative symptoms such as:
- increased heart rate;
- rushes of fever followed by chills;
- increased sweating;
- sensation of a “lump” in the throat;
- difficulty of taking a deep breath, a sense of lack of air;
- insuperable thirst, dry mouth;
- nausea, vomiting, dyspeptic disorders;
- tremor of limbs.
The objective of doctor in the treatment of psychogenic dizziness involves two activities. The first objective is to minimize the number of episodes of psychogenic dizziness and exclude complications of main disorder. The second objective of treatment is to provide patient with full recovery by detecting and eliminating the cause that triggered psychotic disorders and neuroses.
The use of antidepressants shows high efficacy in the treatment of psychogenic dizziness.