Pokemon Induced Epilepsy Debunked

A new report in the Southern Medical Journal blames mass hysteria for most of the 13,000 cases of epilepsy and seizures reportedly caused by the Japanese television broadcast of Pocket Monsters episode 38 on December 16, 1997. A half hour after the show ended, 618 children were rushed to Japanese hospitals, with symptoms that suggested epileptic seizures, including convulsions, lapses in awareness, nausea, headaches and blurred vision. Over the next two days, the initial 618 had blossomed into 13,000 victims. According to the new study, a small fraction of the affected children did suffer photosensitive epileptic reactions to flashing colors and strobe light effects in the episode, but the mass reaction was caused by panic that transferred itself into physical symptoms. The Epilepsy Foundation states that TV screens can induce epileptic attacks, but that the instance is rare. “It seems fairly unlikely that one cartoon would cause 13,000 children to have seizures,” said Epilepsy Foundation spokesman Peter Van Haverbeke.

Source: The New York Post