Name of Disorder: Mal de Debarquement Syndrome Essay Title: Mal de Debarquement Syndrome

Through the vast reaches of prehistory, humanity has traversed the planet barefoot, one step at a time. Yet, all of us living on this island continent have come here by sea or air, by boat or plane, either personally or through our ancestors. Travel by boat, plane, car and many other “passive” forms of transport are a daily part of modern life. Even so, they pose particular and poorly understood challenges to the control of balance and the perception of motion through the various senses. Particular clinical problems can occur in the transition from one mode of transport to another. As many people experience, the transition from land to passive transport is commonly associated with motion sickness. The transition back to land is much less commonly associated with a disembarkation sickness known as Mal de Debarquement syndrome (MdDS).