What is vertigo
Dizziness (also: Vertigo) is generally understood to be a disturbance of the sense of balance. It usually occurs when contradictory information is sent to the brain from the different organs of balance. One reason for this can be diseases of these individual organs.
On the other hand, there are also forms of vertigo, which can be caused by psychological factors. These fall into the group of psychogenic vertigo and are often triggered or strengthened by strong psychological stress. This form of vertigo will be discussed in more detail in this article.
What role does the psyche play?
Psychogenic vertigo usually has its origin in the psyche, which is why it is named after it. It often occurs for the first time in very stressful phases of life and then occurs again and again in situations that are perceived by those affected as very stressful. Often the dizziness in the context of these events is felt as very threatening and those affected become afraid of experiencing such an episode again.
This can have such far-reaching consequences that people with psychogenic dizziness increasingly withdraw and avoid situations completely that they fear a possible dizzy attack. Examples are important appointments, lectures, riding in an elevator or large crowds of people. In this case one speaks of phobic (phobia = fear) vertigo.
In fact, this is the most common form of vertigo among younger people. In addition, psychogenic dizziness is very often associated with other mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety disorders. When stress causes a feeling of pressure on the ears, blood pressure is usually the cause of the complaints.
This is misregulated by the stress, which causes some people to have high blood pressure and others to have narrowed blood vessels. Both changes affect the inner ear, which is well supplied with blood, and can cause discomfort. Since the ear contains not only the hearing organ but also the sense of balance, such ear pressure is often associated with a feeling of dizziness.
In addition, hearing loss can also occur. Often affected persons also hear a high whistling sound. This is called tinnitus.
Since stress is the trigger of the ear pressure, the most effective treatment is the therapy of stress. Massages and relaxing baths can contribute to this. Changes in the neck muscles can also be a possible cause of dizziness.
If certain muscles are too short, for example, they can no longer balance the head completely and a slight tilting of the head occurs. This can then send contradictory positional information to the brain and thus lead to imbalance or even dizziness. Incorrect head or back postures can also lead to tension, which in turn causes a feeling of dizziness in the head and is often accompanied by neck and back pain.
Stress usually favors such tensions additionally. Lack of sleep is a common symptom triggered by stress. A distinction is made between two different sleep disorders: Both symptoms can be the expression of a strong stress reaction and may lead to a significant lack of sleep.
Such tiredness often causes headaches and, in connection with this, dizziness. In addition, the lack of sleep leads to reduced stress resistance, which in turn leads to even more stress. This in turn can further increase the difficulty of sleeping. This leads to a vicious circle.
- The difficulties of falling asleep, where affected persons lie awake for a long time in the evening and
- Difficulty in sleeping through the night, which leads to long nightly waking phases.
