The dizziness that comes with anxiety is the terrifying sensation of being adrift in your own body, with no solid ground to stand on. Trying to ‘just ignore it’ doesn’t work because this isn’t a failure of willpower—it’s a predictable, physical response from a nervous system stuck in survival mode. This guide explains the clear connection between anxiety and dizziness, giving you both the understanding and the tools to stop the cycle.
Jump to a section
- Is it anxiety or a medical emergency?
- What anxiety dizziness actually feels like
- How anxiety dizziness differs from other conditions
- The hidden costs of anxiety dizziness
- Why anxiety makes you feel dizzy
- What to do the moment a dizzy spell starts
- Long-term strategies to stop the dizzy-anxious cycle
- How to talk to your doctor about dizziness
- Your roadmap to getting back to normal
- A guide for your loved ones
Key takeaways
- Anxiety dizziness often feels like lightheadedness or unsteadiness, not a spinning room (vertigo).
- It is a real, physical response to stress hormones and changes in your breathing.
- Immediate grounding techniques and controlled breathing can stop a dizzy spell as it starts.
- Long-term relief comes from treating the underlying anxiety, not just the dizziness itself.
- Tracking your symptoms is the key to having a productive conversation with your doctor.
Is it anxiety or a medical emergency?
When dizziness hits, your first job is to sort the signals of real danger from the noise of distress.
A checklist to tell the difference
Anxiety-related dizziness often follows a specific pattern. While this is not a substitute for a medical diagnosis, you can start to tell the difference by looking for these signs:
- Context: The dizziness often appears during moments of high stress or worry, or sometimes seems to come out of nowhere, which then triggers anxiety.
- Accompanying feelings: It usually travels with other classic signs of anxiety, like a racing heart, shallow breathing, or a sense of dread.
- Duration: The feeling may come and go, lasting for a few moments or lingering as a background sense of unsteadiness for hours.
- Response to calming: The dizziness often lessens when you use grounding techniques, slow your breathing, or remove yourself from a stressful situation.
Red flags that mean you should see a doctor now
Your safety is the first priority. Dizziness can be a sign of a serious medical issue, and it’s always better to be cautious. If your dizziness is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, please seek immediate medical care:
- A sudden and severe headache
- Chest pain or shortness of breath
- Numbness or weakness in your face, arm, or leg
- Difficulty speaking, seeing, or walking
- Fainting or loss of consciousness
Common anxiety symptoms that feel scary but are not dangerous
Anxiety can create powerful physical symptoms that feel alarming. Recognizing them as part of your body’s stress response—an alarm system that is overly sensitive but not broken—is a key step in reducing their power.
These sensations are often part of an anxiety or panic attack and are not life-threatening:
- A racing or pounding heart: Your body is preparing to face a threat, even if that threat is just a thought.
- Tingling in your hands or feet: This is a common result of changes in your breathing when you feel anxious.
- A feeling of detachment or unreality: This is your mind’s way of distancing you from an overwhelming experience.
- Sweating or chills: Your body is trying to regulate its temperature in preparation for a “fight or flight” response.
What anxiety dizziness actually feels like
It’s a sensation that’s hard to describe, often feeling like a collection of strange and unsettling symptoms all at once. This isn’t your body failing; it’s your body’s alarm system pulling every lever it can find.
Lightheadedness or feeling woozy
This isn’t the dramatic, room-spinning feeling of vertigo. It’s a more subtle, internal sense of being untethered.
The feeling: It can be a sudden “head rush” as if you stood up too fast, even when you’re sitting perfectly still. You might feel a vague, floating sensation, as if your head is a balloon loosely tied to your shoulders.
A sense of being unsteady or off-balance
This is the unnerving feeling that the ground beneath you is no longer reliable. It’s a loss of confidence in your own body’s ability to hold you upright.
The feeling: It’s the need to subtly touch a wall as you walk down a hallway, just to be sure. It can feel like you’re walking on a boat dock, even when you’re on solid ground. This creates a sense of being unsteady or off-balance.
Feeling disconnected from your surroundings
Sometimes, the dizziness is less about balance and more about perception. Your mind creates distance from the overwhelming feelings in your body.
The feeling: This can feel like you are watching your own life through a pane of glass. Sounds might seem muffled or far away, and you may feel like a passenger in your own body. It’s a strange and often frightening sensation of feeling disconnected from your surroundings.
How anxiety dizziness differs from other conditions
Because the feelings are so real, your mind naturally searches for a physical cause. Knowing the key differences can help quiet that fear.
Anxiety vs. true vertigo (BPPV)
Anxiety typically causes a vague sense of being off-balance or lightheaded. True vertigo, often caused by a condition like Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), is different.
The difference: Vertigo is a violent, spinning sensation that usually lasts for less than a minute. It is triggered by specific head movements, like rolling over in bed or tilting your head back.
Anxiety vs. Meniere’s disease
While anxiety dizziness can feel persistent or come and go with stress, Meniere’s disease presents as a distinct cluster of symptoms that occur in episodes.
The difference: Meniere’s disease typically involves attacks of severe vertigo accompanied by ringing in the ear (tinnitus), hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness or pressure in the ear.
Anxiety vs. vestibular neuritis
Anxiety dizziness often fluctuates with your emotional state. Vestibular neuritis, which is inflammation of a nerve in the inner ear, has a much more dramatic and constant onset.
The difference: This condition usually starts with a sudden, severe, and constant spell of vertigo that can last for days and is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. It frequently follows a viral infection like a cold or the flu.
The hidden costs of anxiety dizziness
The dizziness itself is only the beginning. The real cost is the way it quietly shrinks your world, replacing confidence with constant, low-level fear.
Acknowledging the frustration and fear
It’s a deeply frustrating experience to feel like you can’t trust your own body. The fear of the next spell can become a central focus, creating a cycle of worry that makes the physical symptoms worse.
This isn’t just a symptom; it’s a thief of your sense of safety. It’s the fear that a wave of dizziness could hit at any moment—while you’re driving, in a grocery store, or during an important meeting.
That constant “what if” is exhausting.
How it can affect your daily life and relationships
Slowly, without you even realizing it, your world can get smaller. You begin to live a life planned around the possibility of dizziness, which can be just as limiting as the dizziness itself.
This can look like:
- Saying “no” to social invitations: You begin turning down opportunities or avoiding new situations where you might feel trapped.
- Subtly avoiding certain situations: It’s choosing the aisle seat in a theater, just in case, or avoiding crowded stores and busy restaurants.
- Experiencing relationship strain: It’s the quiet difficulty of explaining why you suddenly need to go home, or why an activity that was fine yesterday feels impossible today.
Why you are not “just making it up”
What you are feeling is not imaginary. It is a real, measurable physiological event happening in your body.
Your mind can write a check your body has to cash. When your brain sounds a false alarm for danger, your body responds with real, physical changes—and dizziness is one of the most common. Being told it’s “just anxiety” doesn’t mean the symptom isn’t real; it means the solution lies in calming your nervous system, not in searching for a different physical cause.
Why anxiety makes you feel dizzy
This isn’t a random malfunction. It’s a series of predictable, connected events that start in your brain and ripple through your body. Your body is simply running a life-saving program at the wrong time.
The fight-or-flight response and dizziness
At the heart of your anxiety is an ancient survival circuit called the fight-or-flight response. When your brain perceives a threat—whether it’s a real danger or a stressful thought—it triggers a cascade of physical changes designed to help you survive.
Dizziness is a direct side effect of this system kicking into high gear. Your body isn’t broken; it’s preparing for a battle that’s only happening on the inside.
How stress hormones affect your body
To prepare you for this perceived battle, your brain floods your body with adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones are like an emergency shot of espresso for your entire system.
They cause your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to constrict, redirecting blood flow to your large muscles. This change in blood pressure and flow can lead to that sudden, woozy feeling of lightheadedness.
The role of hyperventilation (over-breathing)
When you’re anxious, your breathing pattern changes. You might take faster, shallower breaths without even noticing. This is called hyperventilation.
This over-breathing disrupts the delicate balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your bloodstream.
Having too little carbon dioxide can cause blood vessels that lead to the brain to narrow, resulting in dizziness, tingling in your hands and feet, and even that scary feeling of unreality.
How anxiety impacts your inner ear and balance (vestibular system)
Your inner ear contains the vestibular system, which is your body’s internal gyroscope. It constantly sends signals to your brain about your position and movement, keeping you balanced.
Anxiety can throw this sensitive system off. When you’re anxious, your brain’s ability to process balance and sensory information can change, making you more sensitive to every small change. Your brain, already on high alert, can misinterpret these signals, leading to a persistent feeling of being unsteady or off-kilter.
What to do the moment a dizzy spell starts
In this moment, your goal isn’t to fight the feeling, but to safely ride it out.
Immediate steps to stay safe and prevent falls
When you feel unsteady, anxiety can increase the risk of falls. Your first priority is to reduce that risk:
- Stop what you’re doing: Do not try to push through the feeling.
- Sit or lie down immediately: If you can’t, hold onto something sturdy like a wall or a piece of furniture.
- Lower your head: If you are sitting, try putting your head between your knees to help with blood flow.
- Avoid sudden movements: Keep your head as still as possible until the worst of the feeling passes.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique to calm your mind
This technique pulls your attention out of the storm in your head and back into the physical world. Look around you and name, either aloud or in your head:
- 5 things you can see: A crack in the ceiling, a scuff on your shoe, the color of the wall.
- 4 things you can feel: The texture of your jeans, the cool surface of a table, your feet flat on the floor.
- 3 things you can hear: The hum of a refrigerator, distant traffic, your own breathing.
- 2 things you can smell: The scent of coffee, the soap on your hands.
- 1 thing you can taste: Take a sip of water or just notice the taste in your mouth.
Box breathing: a simple exercise to stop hyperventilation
This simple exercise directly counteracts hyperventilation, restoring the balance in your body that anxiety disrupted. Controlled breathing exercises are a proven tool for managing acute stress. Follow these four simple steps:
- Breathe in for 4 seconds: Inhale slowly and gently through your nose.
- Hold your breath for 4 seconds: Keep the air in your lungs.
- Breathe out for 4 seconds: Exhale slowly through your mouth.
- Hold the exhale for 4 seconds: Pause before your next breath.
- Repeat: Continue this cycle for a minute or two until you feel more centered.
A printable “dizzy spell first-aid kit” for your wallet
Being prepared can give you a powerful sense of control. Create a small card with these reminders to keep in your wallet or on your phone:
- “This is anxiety. It is not dangerous.”
- “It will pass in a few minutes.”
- “Sit down. Breathe slowly.”
- “5-4-3-2-1.”
Long-term strategies to stop the dizzy-anxious cycle
Riding out a dizzy spell is survival. But true recovery isn’t about getting better at surviving the storm; it’s about learning how to change the weather.
Therapy options that can help
This is where you learn to rewire the connection between a physical feeling and a fearful thought. It’s a structured process of teaching your brain a new, calmer way to respond.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
This is one of the most effective approaches for anxiety. CBT doesn’t just treat the dizziness; it targets the fearful thoughts that give the dizziness its power.
It helps you break the cycle where a slight feeling of unsteadiness triggers a catastrophic thought (“I’m going to faint”), which in turn creates more anxiety and more dizziness.
Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT)
This is like physical therapy for your balance system.
A trained therapist guides you through specific head and body movements designed to help your brain re-learn how to interpret signals from your inner ear correctly. It helps rebuild your trust in your body’s ability to know where it is in space.
Lifestyle changes for lasting relief
You can build a more resilient and stable foundation for your nervous system through small, consistent changes like:
- Prioritizing regular sleep: Sleep is when your brain and nervous system repair and reset. A sleep-deprived brain is a hyper-vigilant brain, making your internal alarm system far more sensitive.
- Limiting caffeine and alcohol: Caffeine is a stimulant that can directly mimic the physical sensations of anxiety, like a racing heart. Alcohol can disrupt sleep and lead to dehydration, both of which can trigger dizziness.
- Staying hydrated: Even mild dehydration can cause lightheadedness and brain fog. Don’t give anxiety an easy, physical reason to start the cycle.
Mindfulness and relaxation techniques
If therapy is the strategy session, mindfulness is the daily training. It’s the practice of learning to notice your thoughts and feelings without immediately reacting to them.
Mindfulness-based practices can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms by teaching you to become the calm observer of the storm, rather than being the storm itself. This can include:
- Daily meditation: Using an app or guided practice for just 5-10 minutes a day can train your brain to be less reactive.
- Body scan meditations: This involves bringing gentle, non-judgmental attention to different parts of your body, which can help reconnect you to physical sensations in a safe way.
- Mindful moments: Simply pausing a few times a day to take three slow, intentional breaths can help reset your nervous system.
How to talk to your doctor about dizziness
Walking into a doctor’s office to describe a feeling that comes and goes can be intimidating. Having clear, organized information is the key to being heard and finding the right path forward.
A printable trigger and symptom tracking log
Instead of saying “I get dizzy sometimes,” you can show a clear pattern. Using a log to systematically record your experiences helps you and your doctor see the full picture, turning a vague feeling into concrete data.
Track these key details for a week or two before your appointment:
- When it happens: Note the time of day and what you were doing.
- How long it lasts: Was it seconds, minutes, or hours?
- What it feels like: Use the descriptions from this guide (lightheaded, unsteady, disconnected).
- Other symptoms: Note any anxiety, racing thoughts, or physical sensations that came with it.
A printable worksheet to prepare for your appointment
This worksheet helps you organize your thoughts so you don’t forget anything important during the appointment. It ensures you cover all the bases, even if you feel nervous.
Questions you should ask your doctor
You are a partner in your own healthcare. Asking questions is a crucial part of that role. Consider these a starting point:
- Based on my symptoms, what do you think are the most likely possibilities?
- What serious conditions do we need to rule out first?
- Could my anxiety be the primary cause, or is it making another condition worse?
- What are the next steps in terms of testing or specialists?
- Are there any lifestyle changes you recommend I make right now?
What to do if you feel dismissed
It is deeply discouraging to feel like your concerns are not being taken seriously. This can be one of the most isolating parts of the journey—the fear that something is truly wrong, but you can’t get anyone to see it. Your experience is valid.
If you feel you’re being brushed off, you can calmly and respectfully advocate for yourself. You can say something like: “I understand that anxiety is a likely factor here, and I’m addressing that. However, for my peace of mind, I’d like to make sure we’ve ruled out other potential medical causes. What would be the next step to do that?”
This approach acknowledges their perspective while clearly stating your need for a thorough evaluation.
Common tests your doctor might suggest
To make an accurate diagnosis, your doctor will likely start with the basics to rule out common physical causes. This initial evaluation often includes:
- A thorough physical and neurological exam: Checking your balance, gait, and eye movements.
- Basic blood tests: To check for issues like anemia, thyroid problems, or vitamin deficiencies.
- An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG): A simple, painless test to check your heart’s rhythm and electrical activity.
Your roadmap to getting back to normal
This isn’t about a giant leap back to your old life. It’s about gently and safely reclaiming your world, one small step at a time.
Starting small: how to build your confidence
Confidence isn’t the absence of dizziness or fear. It’s the quiet, steady knowledge that you can handle the feeling if it comes. You build this knowledge not by thinking about it, but by doing it.
The goal is to prove to your brain, through small, successful experiences, that you are safe. This process of rebuilding confidence and resuming normal activities is a powerful way to reduce the hold dizziness has on your life. Each small win recalibrates your internal alarm system, teaching it that a feeling of unsteadiness is just a feeling, not a catastrophe.
A step-by-step guide to re-engaging with avoided activities
This is a structured way to face the places and situations that anxiety has made feel unsafe. The key is to move at a pace that feels challenging but not overwhelming.
- Make a list: Write down all the things you’ve been avoiding because of dizziness, from small (walking to the end of the driveway) to large (going to a crowded concert).
- Rank your list: Rate each activity on a scale of 1-10 based on how much anxiety it causes.
- Start with a ‘2’ or ‘3’: Choose an activity that feels very manageable. The goal is a guaranteed win.
- Plan your outing: Decide when and how you’ll do it. Maybe you’ll walk into the grocery store for just two minutes, with a supportive friend waiting in the car.
- Stay with the feeling: If anxiety or dizziness arises, don’t immediately retreat. Sit down if you need to, use your box breathing, and wait for the feeling to crest and fall, like a wave.
- Acknowledge the victory: When you’ve done it, take a moment to let the success sink in. You just taught your brain something new.
Coping strategies for when you’re out of the house
Having a plan for what to do if you feel dizzy can give you the confidence you need to leave the house in the first place.
- Have an exit plan: Before you walk into a store or a social gathering, know where the exits are and tell yourself, “I can leave at any time.” Just knowing you have an escape route can lower your anxiety dramatically.
- Carry a grounding object: This could be a small, smooth stone in your pocket, a textured keychain, or a ring you can turn. Focusing on the physical sensation of the object can pull your attention out of your head.
- Focus on a single, simple task: If you’re in a grocery store and start to feel overwhelmed, give your brain a concrete job. Focus all your attention on finding the best-looking apple or reading the ingredients on a cereal box. This redirects your focus from internal sensations to the external world.
A guide for your loved ones
Trying to describe this invisible feeling to the people you love can be as disorienting as the dizziness itself.
How to explain your symptoms to family and friends
It can be hard to find the words when you’re in the middle of a scary physical sensation. It can be even harder when you fear you won’t be believed. Sometimes, a simple, direct script can help.
You can try saying something like this:
“Sometimes, my anxiety causes a very real physical symptom: dizziness. It feels like I’m unsteady or lightheaded, like being on a boat. It’s not dangerous, but it is frightening. It’s my body’s alarm system going off by mistake.”
What helps (and what doesn’t) during a dizzy spell
Well-intentioned advice can sometimes make things worse. Giving your loved ones a clear, simple list of what you actually need can be a gift to both of you.
What helps:
- Asking calmly: A simple, quiet “What do you need right now?” is perfect.
- Offering a seat: Help them sit down and feel stable.
- Speaking reassuringly: Gentle reminders like “You’re safe” or “This will pass” can be very grounding.
- Giving them space: Don’t hover. Just be present and calm nearby.
What doesn’t help:
- Using dismissive phrases: Saying “You’re fine,” “Just relax,” or “It’s all in your head” is invalidating and can increase panic.
- Asking lots of questions: During a spell, processing information is difficult. Save questions for later.
- Showing panic: Your calm presence is the most powerful tool you have.
Simple ways they can support you
Recovery is a journey, and consistent, gentle support is more helpful than grand gestures. Loved ones can provide meaningful support by:
- Checking in without pressure: A simple text asking “How are you feeling today?” shows you care.
- Celebrating the small wins: Acknowledge their courage for trying something they’ve been avoiding.
- Offering to be a partner: You can say, “If you want to try going to the store, I’m happy to go with you, no pressure to stay.”
- Believing them: This is the most important gift you can give. Trusting their experience removes the burden of proof and allows them to focus on healing.
Hope for your journey
This isn’t about finding a magic cure that stops you from ever feeling dizzy again. It’s about the small, intentional act of learning to trust your body, even when it feels unsteady. Start by noticing, without judgment, how one slow, deep breath makes you feel right now. That moment of noticing is how you learn to listen to yourself again.
Care at Modern Recovery Services
When dizziness from anxiety keeps you trapped in a cycle of “what-ifs,” it steals your freedom. Modern Recovery Services provides structured, online therapy to break that cycle, giving you the tools to reclaim your world with confidence.
Sources
- Balban, M., Neri, E., Kogon, M., Weed, L., Nouriani, B., Jo, B., Holl, G., Zeitzer, J., Spiegel, D., & Huberman, A. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895
- Bentley, T., D’Andrea-Penna, G., Rakic, M., Arce, N., LaFaille, M., Berman, R., Cooley, K., & Sprimont, P. (2023). Breathing Practices for Stress and Anxiety Reduction: Conceptual Framework of Implementation Guidelines Based on a Systematic Review of the Published Literature. Brain Sciences, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13121612
- Bösner, S., Schwarm, S., Grevenrath, P., Schmidt, L., Hörner, K., Beidatsch, D., Bergmann, M., Viniol, A., Becker, A., & Haasenritter, J. (2018). Prevalence, aetiologies and prognosis of the symptom dizziness in primary care – a systematic review. BMC Family Practice, 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-017-0695-0
- Brandt, T., & Dieterich, M. (2019). ‘Excess anxiety’ and ‘less anxiety’: both depend on vestibular function. Current Opinion in Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0000000000000771
- Budimir, S., Probst, T., & Pieh, C. (2021). Coping strategies and mental health during COVID-19 lockdown. Journal of Mental Health, 30(2), 156-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2021.1875412
- Cao, Z., Liu, X., Ju, Y., & Zhao, X. (2021). Neuroimaging studies in persistent postural–perceptual dizziness and related disease: a systematic review. Journal of Neurology, 269, 1225-1235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-021-10558-x
- Chen, L., Procter‐Gray, E., Churchill, L., Zhang, M., Le, Q., Berry, S., Hannan, M., & Li, W. (2023). THE ASSOCIATION OF ANXIETY WITH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR FALLS AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS. Innovation in Aging, 7(Supplement_1), 238-238. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad104.0782
- Edlow, J., Carpenter, C., Akhter, M., Khoujah, D., Marcolini, E., Meurer, W., Morrill, D., Naples, J., Ohle, R., Omron, R., Sharif, S., Siket, M., Upadhye, S., Silva, L., Sundberg, E., Tartt, K., Vanni, S., Newman-Toker, D., & Bellolio, F. (2023). Guidelines for reasonable and appropriate care in the emergency department 3 (GRACE‐3): Acute dizziness and vertigo in the emergency department. Academic Emergency Medicine, 30(4), 442-486. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14728
- Fincham, G., Strauss, C., Montero-Marín, J., & Cavanagh, K. (2023). Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Scientific Reports, 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27247-y
- Grillo, D., Zitti, M., Cieślik, B., Vania, S., Zangarini, S., Bargellesi, S., & Kiper, P. (2024). Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation in Dizziness: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 24(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/s24103028
- Gu, P., Ding, Y., Ruchi, M., Feng, J., Fan, H., Fayyaz, A., & Geng, X. (2024). Post-stroke dizziness, depression and anxiety. Neurological Research, 46(5), 466-478. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2024.2328490
- Hinton, D., Seponski, D., Khann, S., Armes, S., Lahar, C., Kao, S., & Schunert, T. (2019). Culturally sensitive assessment of anxious-depressive distress in the Cambodian population: Avoiding category truncation. Transcultural Psychiatry, 56(4), 643-666. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461519851609
- Holt-Gosselin, B., Tozzi, L., Ramirez, C., Gotlib, I., & Williams, L. (2021). Coping Strategies, Neural Structure, and Depression and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in a Naturalistic Sample Spanning Clinical Diagnoses and Subclinical Symptoms. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science, 1(4), 261-271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.06.007
- Hunt, D., Oldham, J., Aaron, S., Tan, C., Meehan, W., & Howell, D. (2021). Dizziness, Psychosocial Function, and Postural Stability Following Sport-Related Concussion. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 32(4), 361-367. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0000000000000923
- Indovina, I., Passamonti, L., Mucci, V., Chiarella, G., Lacquaniti, F., & Staab, J. (2021). Brain Correlates of Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness: A Review of Neuroimaging Studies. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(18). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10184274
- Jacobson, G., Piker, E., Hatton, K., Watford, K., Trone, T., McCaslin, D., Bennett, M., Rivas, A., Haynes, D., & Roberts, R. (2019). Development and Preliminary Findings of the Dizziness Symptom Profile. Ear and Hearing, 40(3), 568–576. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0000000000000628
- Jáuregui-Renaud, K., Cabrera-Pereyra, R., Miguel-Puga, J., & Alcántara-Thome, M. (2024). Graviception Uncertainty, Spatial Anxiety, and Derealization in Patients with Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13226665
- Jáuregui-Renaud, K., García-Jacuinde, D., Bárcenas-Olvera, S., Gresty, M., & Gutiérrez-Márquez, A. (2024). Spatial anxiety contributes to the dizziness-related handicap of adults with peripheral vestibular disease. Frontiers in Neurology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2024.1365745
- Kotwal, S., Gold, D., & Edlow, J. (2025). Clinical progress note: Diagnostic approach to dizziness and vertigo. Journal of hospital medicine. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhm.13595
- Lee, J., Lee, E., Kim, J., Lee, Y., Jeong, Y., Choi, B., Kim, J., & Staab, J. (2018). Altered brain function in persistent postural perceptual dizziness: A study on resting state functional connectivity. Human Brain Mapping, 39(8), 3340-3353. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.24080
- Li, W., Liu, C., Zhang, Y., Peng, M., Luo, X., Zhang, H., Lan, H., Li, Z., Chen, Y., Li, Z., Xiao, Z., Tong, L., & Chen, Y. (2025). Efficacy and Safety Analysis of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Patients with Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness: A Single-Center, Single-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Neurology and Therapy, 14, 849-863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-025-00733-x
- Limburg, K., Radziej, K., Sattel, H., Henningsen, P., Dieterich, M., Probst, T., Dale, R., & Lahmann, C. (2021). A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Integrative Psychotherapeutic Group Treatment Compared to Self-Help Groups in Functional Vertigo/Dizziness. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10102215
- Magnussen, L., Wilhelmsen, K., & Råheim, M. (2025). Patient Experiences of a Group Intervention Integrating Vestibular Rehabilitation, Body Awareness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Long-Lasting Dizziness: A Focus Group Study. Physical therapy. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzaf062
- Morgan, S., Lengacher, C., & Seo, Y. (2024). A Systematic Review of Breathing Exercise Interventions: An Integrative Complementary Approach for Anxiety and Stress in Adult Populations. Journal of holistic nursing : official journal of the American Holistic Nurses’ Association, 8980101241273860. https://doi.org/10.1177/08980101241273860
- Powell, G., Derry-Sumner, H., Shelton, K., Rushton, S., Hedge, C., Rajenderkumar, D., & Sumner, P. (2020). Visually-induced dizziness is associated with sensitivity and avoidance across all senses. Journal of Neurology, 267, 2260-2271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-09817-0
- Puissant, M., Giampalmo, S., Wira, C., Goldstein, J., & Newman-Toker, D. (2024). Approach to Acute Dizziness/Vertigo in the Emergency Department: Selected Controversies Regarding Specialty Consultation. Stroke. https://doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.123.043406
- Radziej, K., Probst, T., Limburg, K., Dinkel, A., Dieterich, M., & Lahmann, C. (2018). The Longitudinal Effect of Vertigo and Dizziness Symptoms on Psychological Distress: Symptom-Related Fears and Beliefs as Mediators. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 206(4), 277–285. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000791
- Schmid, D., Schmid, D., Allum, J., Sleptsova, M., Welge-Lüssen, A., Schaefert, R., Meinlschmidt, G., & Langewitz, W. (2020). Relation of anxiety and other psychometric measures, balance deficits, impaired quality of life, and perceived state of health to dizziness handicap inventory scores for patients with dizziness. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-020-01445-6
- Steensnaes, M., Knapstad, M., Goplen, F., & Berge, J. (2023). Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD) and quality of life: a cross-sectional study. European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, 280, 5285-5292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-023-08040-7
- Tang, Q., Wang, R., Niu, H., Li, Y., Li, Y., Hu, Z., Liu, X., & Tao, Y. (2024). Mapping network connection and direction among symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with chronic gastritis. PsyCh Journal, 13(5), 824-834. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.757
- Toshishige, Y., Kondo, M., Kabaya, K., Watanabe, W., Fukui, A., Kuwabara, J., Nakayama, M., Iwasaki, S., Furukawa, T., & Akechi, T. (2020). Cognitive-behavioural therapy for chronic subjective dizziness: Predictors of improvement in Dizziness Handicap Inventory at 6 months posttreatment. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 140(10), 827-832. https://doi.org/10.1080/00016489.2020.1772994
- Wang, J., Li, S., Hu, Y., Ren, L., Yang, R., Jiang, Y., Yu, M., Liu, Z., Wu, Y., Dong, Z., Zhang, C., Dong, W., & Yao, Y. (2023). The moderating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between falls, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Journal of affective disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.060
- Whitmore, C., Neil-Sztramko, S., Grenier, S., Gough, A., Goodarzi, Z., Weir, E., Niculescu, I., Suthakaran, A., Adedeji, I., Akram, M., Mojgani, J., Chan, T., Flint, A., Juola, H., Reynolds, K., Trenaman, S., Van Amerigen, M., Yeung, A., Levy, A., & Iaboni, A. (2024). Factors associated with anxiety and fear of falling in older adults: A rapid systematic review of reviews. PLOS ONE, 19(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315185
- Williams, C., Knight, R., Donnelly, N., & Bance, M. (2020). Prevalence and treatment of co‐morbid anxiety and depression among 352 dizzy patients: A retrospective study. Clinical Otolaryngology, 45(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/coa.13590
- Yue, Z., Liang, H., Gao, X., Qin, X., Li, H., Xiang, N., & Liu, E. (2022). The association between falls and anxiety among elderly Chinese individuals: the mediating roles of functional ability and social participation. Journal of affective disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.070
- Zhou, X., Guo, J., Lu, G., Chen, C., Xie, Z., Liu, J., & Zhang, C. (2020). Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on anxiety symptoms in young people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research, 289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113002