Forty patients with vertigo but without objective findings are studied.
Most of the patients were women over 30 years old. Such patients can be classified into the following categories.
1. Although vertigo was present at the beginning of the disease, it disappeared by the time of examination, leaving the patient only with apprehension of vertigo.
2. The vertigo was attributable to autonomic nerve disturbance
3. The vertigo was psychogenic in origin, and included anxiety neurosis, hysteria and other psychogenic diseases.
Of the 20 patients with psychogenic vertigo 13 had previously been diagnosed as having vertigo of unknown origin.
Development of vertigo in psychogenic patients may be explained as follows:
1. Vertigo superimposed in patients with psychogenic disease.
2. Vertigenous disease constitutes mental stress, which leads to psychogenic disease.
3. Disturbances in normal life created by a vertigenous disease causes psychogenic reactions.
It is often the case that presence of psychogenic disease makes the differenital diagnosis of vertigo difficult. It should be pointed out that vertigo can often be caused by psychogenic diseases such as anxiety neurosis, depression and schizophrenia.