Mal de Débarquement Media Coverage

Have you contacted your local media with your Mal de Débarquement story? Today is the perfect day to raise awareness!

Television Coverage

• Ça commence aujourd’hui sur France 2, france.tv – How to fight against a rare disease? Suffering from disembarkation sickness syndrome, Tamara talks with Faustine Bollaert about constantly having the impression of living on a boat. 2021
• Fox News, Grand Rapids, Woman suffers from rare condition, making her seasick on land, 2020
• Julie Lemoine on Radio-Canada (French TV): Deux ans après un voyage en mer, la houle la secoue encore. 2018
• CruiseTipsTV answers a subscriber question regarding seasickness after disembarkation in, “Mal de debarquement syndrome MdDS Treatment, Symptoms and Resources.” 2017
• The Doctors (US tv show), “Seasickness on Land?” with Dr. Travis Stork and patient Joy Sheerer. 2014
• The Project (AU tv show), “Permanent Seasickness” with Dr. Alan Pearce and patient Fay Selkrig (viewable in AU only). 2014
• ABC News, Rare disorder gives illusion of being in motion long after traveling, with Yoon-Hee Cha, MD. 2011
• ITV News, Feeling permanently seasick after cruise. Tom Savvides talks to Diane Morley and Dr Doris-Eva Bamiou. 2011
• Deborah Duncan hosts Great Day Houston, featuring Terri Gibson and her husband, Mike. 2009
• Mystery Diagnosis, The Woman Who Couldn’t Stop Rocking: Disembarkment Syndrome (season 3, episode 5). The first 20 minutes are dedicated to Disembarkment Syndrome. 2007
• ABC News: Medical Mystery: Disembarkment Syndrome. Sufferers feel as if they are still in motion after they have stopped traveling. (The show is copyrighted material and a video is not available online; find the transcript here.) 2007

Print & Radio

• La Dépêche, “Après une croisière, elle développe une maladie rare : son cerveau se croit toujours sur un bateau.” 2025
• Business Insider, Travel, “My first cruise was a 7-day disappointment. Even worse, it left me feeling sick long after touching dry land.” 2024
• Prevention Magazine, “Medical Mystery: Why Do I Always Feel Dizzy?” 2022
• The Guardian, Experience: I get seasick on dry land. 2020
• Washington Post, Travel Perspective, “For some unlucky travelers, ‘disembarkation sickness’ strikes after the cruise is over.” 2019
• Solid land feels like rolling ocean to Boones Mill woman with rare disorder. The MdDS Warrior t-shirt she is wearing is available through our store on Zazzle. 2018
• “Erika…now has hope. A hope that she had lost.” This article is in French, available to readers of the Nice-Matin, Victime du mal du débarquement. 2017
• The Washington Post interviewed patient Cathy H. and Yoon-Hee Cha, MD, in “Her dizziness started after two days on a boat, and then it never went away.” 2017
• Portland, TN’s WQKR radio interviews board member Cathy H. for their weekly show aimed at men and women concerning issues and providing information for the community, The Afternoon Roundtable 02 May 2017.
• WFAN’s Bob Salter interviews Drs. Mingjia Dai and Sergei Yakushin on the topic of Mal de Débarquement Syndome (MdDS) just prior to Rare Disease Day. 2017
• Huff Post, This Woman Didn’t Let A Rare Disorder Stop Her From Creating Art, 2016
• Neurology Now, June/July 2016, Balancing Act: Unsteadiness is a common symptom of many neurologic conditions, causing falls and injuries. These strategies can help boost your balance—and your brain health.
• WFAN’s Bob Salter dedicates the first hour of his weekly radio show to MdDS. His interview with Cathy H. discusses an atypical trigger, difficulty getting a diagnosis, finding support, and many more of the challenges of having our rare disorder. Note: this recording was provided with ads included. 2015
• Green Bay Gazette, “Today’s Take: Join our JAM for motion disorder” by Julie Lipp. 2014
• The Telegraph, “When you can’t get off the boat” by Ed Grisamore. Celeste Queen and Sheryl Wilkinson explain how it feels to live with MdDS. 2014
• Dr. Tony Maglione talks in-depth with Cindy Beagle about MdDS on his radio show, Political Pulse. 2014
• Prime Time PostScript radio, Motion Makes It Better! featuring Jane Houghton. Hayley Wilkinson gets to speak as well. They even close the interview with a snippet of her song “Rock the Boat.” 2014
• The simplest thing can be the hardest to do. Jane Houghton speaks with NPR affiliate KCRW in “On the Rolling Sea,” recorded for their Get Off the Couch program. 2014
• Mirror (UK), Cruise holiday left pensioner left permanently seasick with rare Mal de Debarquement Syndrome. 2014
  • BBC Radio Kent – Julia George interviews Diane Morley (skip to 1:08:23)
  • Mail Online, Teetotal grandmother suffers permanent sea sickness after cruise to Norway leaves her stumbling around like she is drunk (and there is no cure)
• Medical Xpress, Brain stimulation shows promise in treating debilitating balance disorder. 2014
• Los Angeles Times, “No safe harbor from disembarkment syndrome.” 2010

What is disembarkation syndrome?

Mal de Débarquement (French for “sickness of disembarkment”) is known variably as disembarkment syndrome, disembarkation syndrome, and debarkation syndrome. The disembarkment/debarkation is not limited to cruise ships and may in fact be from any vehicle, whether water, air or land-based.