The foot may be a focus for psychosomatic problems associated with depression, loneliness etc. For example, suggesting to an elderly patient with emotional problems, that considering the condition of his or her feet, one cannot understand how they can walk, may be all that might be needed to significantly limit ambulation. The most common primary physical manifestations of the foot, associated with emotional disorders in the elderly, include hysterical paralysis, psychogenic tremors, localized neurodermatitis pruritis and hyperhidrosis. Pre-existing conditions that are secondarily affected by emotional disorders include gout, diabetes mellitus, obesity, vascular insufficiency, psoriasis, urticaria and atopic dermatitis. When an elderly patient presents with inappropriate clinical complaints and symptoms that are not demonstrable as a manifestation of organic pathology, the potential for emotional transfer must be considered. The foot may provide more than a primary focus for an emotional or psychiatric disorder. The elderly patient may be utilizing his or her foot complaint as a cry for ‘help’ and as a means to seek attention, expecting relief through some form of physical treatment. When such treatment fails to bring relief, the patient usually reacts emotionally by blaming the doctor or other professional staff, feeling hopeless and dejected, and may even project hostility. Foot problems with psychogenic components usually represent some form of anxiety neurosis. They can also manifest as neurotic or psychotic depression, schizophrenia, involutional psychosis or as a manifestation of organic brain syndrome.