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Mal de Débarquement Syndrome is a neurological disorder of perceived motion. Healthcare providers need to know what MdDS is, and how to diagnose and treat it. Start here.

Signs of MdDS

  • People with MdDS feel a rocking or swaying sensation. It is different from vertigo which causes spinning.
  • It is typically triggered by passive motion: cars, trains, airplanes, ships, boats. Virtual reality, water beds, and even elevators may cause it. Some suffer with no associated motion event.
  • What makes MdDS truly different, is that symptoms often disappear when in passive motion, e.g.: driving or riding in a car.

Diagnostic Criteria

Diagnostic Criteria for MdDS. Published by the Bárány Society in 2020, the International Classification of Vestibular Disorders (ICVD) evidence-based consensus document can be found here or downloaded (PDF).

ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code

Dizziness and giddiness, R42. Included under syndromes.

On “dizziness”

While patients may complain of dizziness after air/land/water-based travel or even “spontaneously,” they don’t mean dizzy per se. For lack of a better word they mean to say, they feel as if they are on a boat.

Common Symptoms Include:

  • a persistent sensation of rocking, swaying, and/or bobbing
  • difficulty maintaining balance
  • impaired cognitive function
  • anxiety and/or depression
  • fatigue
  • headache (including migraine)
  • Symptom intensity is highly variable among patients and may be quite disabling.
  • Patients are usually relieved when in motion, e.g., riding in a car.

Treatment Challenges:

  • Anticholinergic medications such as meclizine or scopolamine are not effective in either treatment or prevention of MdDS.
  • Treatments are trial and error. There is evidence that benzodiazepines or SSNI/SSRIs may have beneficial effects but they rarely stop the disorder completely.
  • There are many people walking around suffering from this condition who don’t know MdDS is the cause. They are undiagnosed.
  • The average person with this condition sees a dozen doctors and has many tests without diagnostic findings.
  • MdDS may persist for months to years.
  • The cause of MdDS remains unknown.

Download our quick reference MdDS Knowledge Card or informative brochure (PDF). Complimentary printed copies are available by contacting us.



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