The comorbidity of vertigo and anxiety has been an integral component of th
e medical literature since antiquity. In the works of Plate, the same terms
were used in the context of vertigo, inebriation, height vertigo, disorien
tation, and mental confusion. In classical medicine, vertigo had the ambigu
ous status of being both a disease per se and a symptom of other diseases s
uch as hypochondriacal melancholy. Further, two etiologies were described f
or vertigo: an origin in the head (brain) and an origin in the hypochondria
(abdominal viscera). In the course of the development of a detailed neurol
ogic taxonomy of vertigo in the latter half of the nineteenth century, a de
bate ensued whether agoraphobia was a form of vertigo or a distinct psychia
tric condition. Elucidation of this forgotten debate, within its historical
context, provides insights into the recent rediscovery of the balance-anxi
ety interface. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.