Seizures caused by the brightly flashing images in video games are more common than most people realize. They can happen even in people with no history of seizures. Most individuals with this type of visual sensitivity (a condition often called photosensitive epilepsy) have their first seizure before knowing they need to be careful around the flash, flicker, on-screen patterns, and intense colors in video games. As exposure keeps growing to increasingly sophisticated computer graphics, more of the population is at risk for seizures.
Although video games include seizure warnings (online games may not), most of us assume the warnings don't apply to us or our children. This site explains what you should know so that you can be alert for signs of seizures in yourself and others.
Visit my column Seizures from Video Games for discussion of medical research findings, commentary on game industry news, and accounts of real people with video game seizures. You can also learn more about me there.
How can you tell you've had a seizure? That your child may have?
It can be easy to recognize a seizure in someone else--if the seizure involves classic convulsions. However, if you have convulsions and nobody is with you to witness the episode, when you regain awareness you probably won’t remember any part of the seizure. You might figure out that something like a seizure happened if you’d been sitting down before and don't know how you ended up on the floor, or if you discover some unexpected bruises or muscle soreness. But since the nature of most seizures is that you aren't fully - more -