I’ve noticed that when I am doing the Photo Eyeplay exercises with my daughter, even for just a few minutes, I start feeling nauseated and get a mild headache. It does not seem to affect my daughter. Does anyone else experience this? And does anyone have an explanation why it happens?
aangeles-
I will dig a bit in my research files, but it quickly reminded me of a story a few years ago when Pokefirs first. came out in Japan (1997) there were noted cases of almost 700 people, mostly young childrenexperiencing small seizures from the specific frequencies of the flashing screen. A strobe effect from one of the characters eyes…I know that as a result of the ensuing investigation, specific rules were put into place, So I do not think that watching it in this case is in ANY WAY the same, but if it is affecting you, there are things you can do, like turning down the brightness effect on the television…
Please, I have these videos too, so I absolutely do not want ANYONE to get the wrong idea or be scared by this, and Idoubt it is harmful…but if it is making you feel poorly, try changing the settings…
I am pasting in aWikipedia link to peruse, only as it might provide you with ideas to lesson the flashing effect. It might just be that you are particularly sensitive…
Hhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pokémon_episodes_removed_from_rotation
Thanks for your reply, Kerileanne. I think I remember reading about that incident in Japan as well. However, I was not referring to the Photoeyeplay DVD since I am not using them with my daughter in an effort to limit her screen time. I was referring to doing the Photoeyeplay exercises using the Imaging cards and Color Shapes.
Interestingly, when I watch the Photoeyeplay segment on the Tweedlewink DVDs, it does not have the same effect on me.
I am not exactly familiar with Photo Eyeplay, but I also have the same problem with TV. I joke with my family that I was born allergic to TV, but it is something I’ve always struggled with; when it’s really bad, it’s like morning sickness all over again. The only way I could get myself to feel betters is to sleep it off.
I’ve asked my doctors if there is anything like that with a medical name. Not one doctor has been able to give me a decent answer. Basically, doctors aren’t aware of this ‘disorder.’ And for the longest time I thought I must be the only one in the world with this struggle, but come to find out, several of my friends have trouble going to movie theaters, watching TV, watching documentaries, etc. I also have trouble listening to the radio, and even using the internet from time to time.
I did some personal research, but still no good answer. I know for the most part it has something to do with your eyes, maybe some dialogue, but somehow you get “dizzy.” Older TV models are the worst; my daughter and I just moved back to the states where my husband is, and he has (according to him) the best and most recent of TVs, and it hasn’t gotten me sick as I used to get before.
I know it’s different for each person. My condition was funny: if I was really really into a program/show, it usually wouldn’t bother me if I didn’t watch for a prolonged period of time. But if it was anything I had no interest of, then it immediately got me sick. With our recent move, and our new TV, that hasn’t been the case, but one time I was watching it sideways (by that I mean not across from it), and I got sick again, even with the good TV.
Don’t know if this helps, but in some of the pages I’ve come across it mentions that sometimes even the electronic wiring in walls can cause not only headaches but also illness in people. Funny that, the families who took care of the electrical wiring and who happened to have children with ADHD, autism, etc., discovered that the symptoms of those brain conditions completely disappeared!! Apparently, there isn’t eneough research on this, but you can infer there is some correlation with electrical wiring and illness! (Well, I guess it isn’t so much a surprise if you recall synapses are basically, electrical connections in the brain.)
(My friends in the house-building industries also recommend against houses powered exclusively by electricity because of the silent health affectly they have. According to them, most electricians are aware of the side-effects of electricity, but ignore this because they are also trained that the side-affects are very minimal.)
I saw online there are steps to make sure your house is safe, and instructions to fix the problems if the hosue isn’t as safe as you would like it. I am still in the middle of this whole process so I cannot tell you if it is working for us, but maybe you could try it?
But do know that the nausea is real; we just need to spread more awareness on this subject, so that more research goes into this and we will know what we should do to help and protect our children!
Aangeles-
I have to admit to being one of those nerds that needs to have an explanation for things, and your question plagued me lol
So it turns out that this is actually an accepted phenomena in optic illusions. Are you moving the cards rapidly or flashing them? Some of the effects may actually be induced by the patterns themselves…apparently, Optic illusions, like those sometimes found in this type of eye exercise, give people varying degrees of motion sickness because they trick the brain into believing there is movement when there is not…the brain tries to reorient itself (I am sure you would be better able to explain exactly how!), which in turn causes more disorientation. There is actually A psychology professor in Japan creating these effects intentionally… (hopefully he is actually doing some form of quantizing the effect and not just selling it as a novelty 
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/index-e.html
It would be interesting to see if just looking at the cards unmoving induces the same effect, or if when you stare at an unmoving card, can you see ‘movement’…
Anyway, maybe a more helpful explanation at least since you are not actually watching the videos with photo eye play!