Girl Has Seizure After 5 Hours Of Video Gaming

Doctor Says Long-Term Video Game Playing Is Likely Cause

A central Iowa mother woke up over the weekend to find her daughter having a seizure.

After a trip to the emergency room, a family learned that the cause was most likely from playing video games too long, Des Moines television station KCCI reported.

Doctors said such incidents are not common, but they do happen. Certain people are prone to it because of the way their brains work. —Girl Has Seizure After 5 Hours Of Video Gaming (WTAE-TV)

The videogame marathon was not, in itself, sufficient to cause the seizure. The article does specify that some people’s brains are susceptible to seizures induced by flashing lights.

Note the mom-focused anecdotal lead and the prominence given to videogames as the cause (as opposed to patterns of flashing lights, which can be distributed in other media). Theatre performances often mention whether strobe lights or other startling special effects will be used. See also the news coverage of Pokemon seizures.

Now if the story were about a guy who had a seizure after spending five straight hours of marking final exams — that would be news I can use.