Vertigo attacks are caused by a combination of stress and mental illness, such as anxiety or depression. Occasionally, misdiagnosis of the disease may also lead patients to mental illness. In this study, we attempted to prevent vertigo attacks by psychoanalysis through group psychotherapy for 24 patients who had complained of at least one year of dizziness with occasional vertigo attacks and without clear abnormality of equilibrium tests.
Fourteen patients (58%) in the study were successfully treated in that the numbers of vertigo attacks had decreased >50% after a year of group psychotherapy. We found that patients in this study group were more supportive and stimulated by each other, and learned how to verbalize themselves by adopting the techniques into their daily lives. This strategy seemed to be more effective for females than the males.
Through group psychotherapy, the patients learned mental illness might be involved in vertigo attacks, and approximately 60% of the patients were able to prevent long term dizziness or vertigo attacks.
