Vertigo as a symptom of psychosocial pain

Vertigo in a patient with end stage lung cancer challenges the caring team. No relief can be achieved by various treatment attempts. In a retrospective analysis it turns out that the physical symptom of vertigo makes up for psychosocial pain. Causes for this reaction can be found in the patient's history and deal with solitude and loss in a wider sense. Finding out what means quality of life to an individual patient leads to general ideas about human needs. Considerations about the best place to stay for a dying person need to be merged with the options a medical system offers.