Visual–Vestibular Mismatch in Neurodivergent Adults

Why Supermarkets and Crowds Can Make You Dizzy

Some environments create a specific type of discomfort:

🛒 supermarkets and long aisles
🚉 stations with moving crowds
🏬 malls with escalators and bright signage
🚗 being a passenger while looking at a phone
🎮 fast camera movement or scrolling

The experience is often described as:

😵 dizziness or “swimmy” feeling
🤢 nausea
🌫️ brain fog
🧠 difficulty thinking clearly while moving
🚪 strong urge to leave the environment
🫥 “unreal” or detached feeling in visually busy spaces

A common mechanism behind this is visual–vestibular mismatch: your visual system and your balance/motion system send signals that do not align, increasing processing load and destabilising orientation.

This article explains the mechanism and offers practical strategies.

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🧠 The two systems involved

👁️ Visual system

Your eyes and visual cortex help with:

👁️ tracking movement
🧭 orientation in space
🔎 identifying stable reference points
⚡ detecting threats and predicting motion

🎡 Vestibular system

Your inner ear balance system helps with:

🎡 sensing head movement and acceleration
🧭 sensing tilt and stability
👀 stabilising the visual field while you move (eye reflexes)

Normally these systems align: what you see matches what your inner ear feels. When they do not align, the brain has to work harder to reconcile the conflict.

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🌪️ What “mismatch” means in practice

Mismatch is most likely when:

👁️ your eyes see heavy motion or complex patterns
🎡 but your vestibular system is not receiving matching movement signals
—or—
🎡 your body is moving
👁️ but your eyes are focused on something that appears still

Common examples:

📱 reading in a moving car
🎮 fast scrolling while sitting still
🛒 moving through aisles while scanning shelves closely
🚶 walking through crowds where everything around you moves unpredictably
🛗 escalators/elevators (vertical movement + shifting visual field)

The conflict does not need to be extreme. Repeated small conflicts can create cumulative symptoms.

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🧠 Why this can be stronger in autism, ADHD and AuDHD

Several neurodivergent patterns increase sensitivity to mismatch:

🔍 higher detail processing (more visual elements are “captured”)
🧩 filtering differences (harder to suppress background motion)
⚡ faster arousal under uncertainty (unpredictable motion reads as threat)
📉 fatigue/burnout reduces integration bandwidth (less capacity to resolve mismatch)
🧠 attention capture by high-motion stimuli (harder to disengage)

Mismatch is also more likely to matter when other inputs are present at the same time:

🔊 noise
💡 bright LED lighting
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 social navigation
🧠 decision-making (shopping choices, directions)

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🧭 How to recognise visual–vestibular mismatch

Useful clues:

🛒 symptoms increase while you are moving and scanning
🧍 symptoms reduce quickly when you stop moving or look at a stable point
📱 symptoms worsen with scrolling in motion
🧢 reducing peripheral motion reduces symptoms
🕰️ symptoms spike in busy visual environments, not in quiet ones
🚪 leaving the environment reduces symptoms relatively quickly

The symptoms can resemble anxiety because the body shifts into high alert during disorientation.

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🧩 Why supermarkets are a common trigger

Supermarkets combine multiple mismatch drivers:

🛒 forward motion + head turns while scanning
👁️ shelves create repeating patterns and close-focus demand
💡 bright lighting and glare
🚶 peripheral motion from other people
🧠 rapid decisions (choices, prices, lists)
🔊 background noise and announcements

This is a high integration load setting. For many people, the “dizziness” is an orientation and processing response rather than a single isolated symptom.

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🧰 Practical strategies

👁️ 1) Use stable visual anchors while moving

Anchoring reduces conflict by giving the brain a stable reference.

🧭 look toward the end of the aisle before scanning shelves
🛒 move, then stop; scan; then move again (separate motion from scanning)
🚶 slow down slightly in busy areas
🧱 stand near a fixed edge during pauses (shelf end, wall)

A simple pattern:

🛒 move 5–10 meters → ⏸️ pause → 🔎 scan → 🛒 move again

🧢 2) Reduce peripheral motion input

Peripheral vision strongly detects movement and can amplify mismatch.

🧢 cap/hat
🧥 hood
👓 glasses can create a boundary
🧍 choose positions with fewer moving stimuli behind you (edge seating)

📱 3) Avoid common mismatch traps

These are high-probability triggers:

📱 reading or scrolling in a moving car
🎮 fast camera games when already fatigued
🧾 scanning dense text while walking
🛒 trying to decide while rolling forward down the aisle

If you need to use your phone while travelling:

🧭 look out at a stable horizon periodically
⏸️ take short breaks from close-focus

🫁 4) Reduce escalation physiology

Mismatch often triggers shallow breathing and muscle tension.

🫁 3 longer exhales
🧍 drop shoulders and unclench jaw
⏸️ pause movement earlier rather than later

🧱 5) Add proprioceptive grounding

Proprioceptive input can stabilise orientation.

🦶 feel feet on the floor for 10 seconds
🤲 press palms together or grip a stable object lightly
🧱 lean briefly on a fixed surface
🧳 carry balanced weight (backpack) if it helps your stability

🛒 6) Supermarket plan (mismatch-focused)

If supermarkets are a main trigger, design the trip to minimise conflict:

🧾 short list and default products (reduces scanning time)
🕰️ off-peak timing (reduces peripheral motion)
🧭 structured route (aisle order)
⏸️ planned micro-pauses in quieter corners
✅ self-checkout can reduce social navigation, but can increase time pressure; choose based on your profile

🧊 7) Reduce “stacking” on high mismatch days

Mismatch is more likely when capacity is already reduced. On those days:

🔇 lower audio input
💡 reduce brightness exposure
📱 reduce scrolling intensity
🧠 keep tasks simple after the errand

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🧾 A quick tracking tool (7 days)

Track one environment that triggers symptoms (e.g., supermarket) and note:

🕰️ time of day
👁️ lighting intensity (low/medium/high)
🚶 crowd level (low/medium/high)
🛒 strategy used (pause-and-scan, anchor, hat, earplugs)
😵 dizziness rating (0–10)
⏳ recovery time after leaving

This typically identifies whether crowd level, lighting, or scanning time is the strongest driver.

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🧪 When to consider additional evaluation

If dizziness is:

🆕 new and unexplained
📈 escalating
🧍 present even in low-input settings
🌀 associated with true vertigo sensations (room spinning)
💓 associated with fainting or significant palpitations

…then medical evaluation can help rule out vestibular or cardiovascular causes.

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🪞 Reflection questions

🛒 Which environments create the strongest mismatch symptoms for you?
👁️ Does pausing movement reduce symptoms quickly?
🧢 Which tool is easiest to test: visual anchor, pause-and-scan, cap/hood, reduced phone use in motion?
🕰️ What time of day is your tolerance lowest?