Dr John Golding, Professor of Applied Psychology in the School for Social Sciences at the University of Westminster, was interviewed for The New York Times article “Why We Get Motion Sick, and How to Stop It”.
The piece discusses why motion sickness occurs in the first place, why some people are more affected by it than others, and how some research-based evidence could provide cure for it.
In the article Dr Golding suggests that motion sickness could have evolved to protect us from poisoning. When our perceptual experiences do not line up with what was expected, we feel sick and start vomiting to eliminate the potential poison. Dr Golding explains that children start experiencing motion sickness around the age of four or five, with its peak around the age of eight.
During their tween years children naturally accustom and resolve these sensory issues.
Some medications can help to prevent motion sickness, but once motion sickness starts, they will not work as well. Acupressure and Traditional Chinese Medicine is argued to be about as strong as a placebo effect, but Dr Golding says that if these treatments have been working for a particular person, there is no reason not to use them.
According to Dr Golding, prevention is the best cure: “The best way to prevent motion sickness is to look out at the horizon when you’re moving in a car, boat or plane, this helps to eliminate the sensory mismatch, because your eyes see that you’re moving”, adding that keeping your head straight and abandoning activities such as reading and looking at your phone is also crucial.
Read the full article on The New York Times website.
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