Ok... this is going to be an interesting post...
With all of our discussions about cyberpunk lately, we’ve been stressing that people could be hospitalized or die thanks to strobe effects. Which is obviously the most important part. But I feel like what a lot of the discussion fails to acknowledge is what happens if you ARENT hospitalized. And just how serious that still is.
Let me start with an example. This is an example of a seizure I can remember part of but was NOT hospitalized for: WARNING THIS DESCRIPTION WILL BE SOMEWHAT GRAPHIC.
First, my jaw seizes up. One side of my jaw clenches and I just cannot force my mouth to open. I also cannot breathe AT ALL once this happens. My vision starts going black around the edges, I get tunnel vision, and then I completely black out.
THE DESCRIPTION IS OVER, IF YOU SKIPPED IT PLEASE PICK UP AGAIN HERE:
So, important to note: I was not hospitalized after that, and the only testing I received was another EEG. But, there were some long term consequences,
-seizures cause brain damage. Not always enough to alter anything SIGNIFICANTLY but it’s still brain damage. Brain cells that were working before are now dead
-seizures can get WORSE the more seizures you have. Having one additional seizure may not seem like much, but that is one seizure in a chain that you otherwise wouldn’t have had. It may not have done significant damage now, but it could still add up over time. Each seizure after may be jsut that much worse, which increases how much damage that seizure does.
-a seizure not requiring hospitalization doesn’t mean that it wasn’t dangerous, just that they can’t do anything about it.
And some smaller or rarer possible long term consequences:
- there are people with epilepsy who are able to drive as long as they’ve been seizure free for at least a certain period. This period seems to range mostly between six months and 2 years depending on the location. And most places won’t CARE if you know exactly what provoked it and know to avoid it now. You still lose your license. And if you lose you license, you lose your independence, and for a lot of people, possibly their jobs if they no longer have reliable transportation.
-your doctor may decide to raise or change your dose/medication if you have a seizure. They may decide that your meds aren’t working well enough. And for some people that means worsening side effects, or even, again, more seizures depending on how they respond to the new medication.
And this isn’t just important when discussing cyberpunk. This is important when discussing ALL media with strobing effects.
theartofmadeline
romaincrisis
stormborns
dededos
snowghoul
vaporwave
