Epilepsy and Video Games

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I have epilepsy and am constant fear of having to stop playing video games. I've been playing video games since I got a Gameboy Color when I was a kid and people have told me that I will not have to give up video games due to epilepsy, but the fear and paranoia is still there. I've tried telling myself that if I've been playing since then and am 20 now that I won't have to, but I can't be convinced.

Hello
Why do you link video games with epilepsy?
I know that it would be difficult to convince you but past behavior is a great predictor of future behavior. It hasn't happened and all the times you have played are proof of that.
A bunch of studies were done looking for a link, but time and time again no link could be established.
No doctor would knowingly let you engage in playing if there was even the smallest risk to you.
What evidence exists that convinces you that there is a danger?
Roni

As I recall, the link between video games and epileptic seizures was made back in the late 70s and early 80s, when video games were very primitive and consisted almost exclusively of blocks of very bright solid color and flashing lights. I'm not a gamer myself, but what I see in advertising looks as thought contemporary video games are much more realistic and the color schemes more varied. In fact, so much of CGI movie-making now is done with the same visual effects used in video gaming, I don't imagine playing a video game is essentially any different than watching Thor or The Avengers. If it were a serious danger, no doubt there would be required warnings posted on the box the games came in, like the warning on a cigarette pack. Ask your doctor about it, I'm sure there's a med that would help with that if it did cause a problem, but after all these years you've already been playing without any adverse reaction, I seriously doubt anything's going to come up now.

I think the seizures were more common on older video games. The frame rates were lower, at least I would notice it sometimes with some games and if you played old mario nes games, I remember when a bomb went off the background would flash like crazy.

In some people with or without "regular" epilepsy, seizures can be provoked by video games or other brightly flashing media. Dozens of studies have shown this. The condition known as photosensitive epilepsy develops usually in adolescence, so people who previously did not have a problem with flashing images can indeed start to have seizures from them. Photosensitivity is a genetic condition that stays dormant until a particular combination of environmental stimuli and other circumstances (fatigue, hunger, alcohol use, illness, etc.) lower an individual's seizure threshold enough for a seizure to occur. So a game that's OK for you to play one time may produce a seizure another time if you're sleep deprived, for example. Or a game that you can play at age 12 may not be OK for you at age 15.

You can't rely on doctors to advise you on this. because unfortunately most aren't very knowledgeable about it. The prevalence of photosensitivity is underestimated--conventional wisdom is that it's a very rare condition. In people with known epilepsy the prevalence is supposedly around 5 percent. The bigger unknown is how often it occurs in the larger community, where subtle seizures are more likely to go unrecognized. It is very likely that among people with ASD and ADHD the prevalence is higher because of greater sensory processing issues and higher rates of developing epilepsy.

While some video games are safe for people with photosensitivity, there is no way to know for sure which they are because game manufacturers place the same generic warning on all games.

I have a blog about video games and seizures at videogameseizures dot wordpress dotcom as well as a website that's at videogameseizures dotorg. My daughter had undetected video game seizures for years and had no history of a seizure disorder as far as we knew.

There might be sites that will tell you which games are better or worse for people with epilepsy?

I play Runescape and there are a couple of areas that have a warning and you can turn off flicker in the video settings. I've seen topics on their forums where people post about things in the game that might be bad for people with epilepsy.