Herr Schatten wrote:Sometimes I get headaches when I forget to drink enough water during work hours, but that really happens only rarely.
This happens to me frequently. And as a result I get headaches once every two weeks or a month or when the weather changes or when I watch games with scanlines enabled etc.
Speaking of which, I kinda have a headache now. I need to drink some water.
In my case, my problems are due to extreme stress. Until about 2008, the only time I ever dreamt images from a computer game was after staying up all night playing Doom. Now I can't even think about a shoot-em-up without those visions dancing in front of my eyes.
Once while playing Raiden (an easy shoot-em-up by modern standards), the bullets disappeared from the screen, because my brain couldn't keep track of the moving images. It feels as if an invisible spirit is hypnotising me to move my ship straight into passing bullets, because I fall asleep narcoleptically while playing the games, and am briefly startled awake whenever I lose a ship.
I can no longer sleep properly: I'm fully conscious and alert, even when I'm utterly exhausted or actually asleep. I have to consciously remember to relax, otherwise I end up wearing myself out. Then I don't actually stop - I just start wandering around like a zombie.
Anyone experiencing headaches while playing shoot-em-ups might like to try a boring game like Pacman. Your eyes will still be staring at a computer screen, but your mind will be relaxed. See if it helps.
