Emotional Vertigo: Between Anxiety and Pleasure

In this unique, prize-winning study Danielle Quinodoz unravels the unconscious significance of the feelings of vertigo which arise in situations where there is no immediate physical danger of falling and no organic cause. She traces the origins of such emotional vertigo to inner anxiety which manifests itself in physical symptoms. The severity of these feelings of dizziness directly corresponds with the level of anxiety experienced by the sufferer. Through a detailed case study of a patient who experienced vertigo during analysis, the author offers some thought-provoking insights into the object relationship and the importance of the role of the analyst in helping the patient translate sensation into representation.