Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Can the PS3 cause physical pain / headaches?


I’ve found, since buying my PAL 80gb PS3 last year January, that enabling the internet connection generates a strange, burning head pain and disorientation. Has anyone else found this?
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A bit of an odd post, but perhaps the international group of savvy gamers who read HG101 may have experienced the same thing?

I bought my UK PS3 in January 2009, the 80gb PAL model, and intended for a short time to use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet, until I could buy a router cable of the required length. When I first took it online I developed an instantly noticeable pain in my head. Not unbearable, like the morning after a bottle of tequila, but definitely apparent. And afterwards, switching off the machine, I was left with a sense of disorientation. This cleared after a short while, while switching the PS3 back on resumed the problem.

Doing some googling I found a mountain of comments stating that Wi-Fi can give you headaches, and an equal number of rebuttals calling it bad science and nonsense. Well, true or bogus, I can at least see the logic behind the theory that wave energy could cause biological effects. And I wanted a wired connection anyway, for stability.

So I bought a router cable for $10, and strangely the problem didn’t go away, despite changing the settings to a wired connection.

If I disabled the internet from the settings menu there was no cranial fuzziness or disorientation. I felt fine. Enabling it, and going onto PSN though, even with the cable, resulted in the same problem. It wasn’t serious, and I played through the whole of Demon’s Souls, 60 hours, with the same constant burning in the back of my skull, but it made me wonder: What the hell is going on? I’m a healthy, rational, logical guy, but there is clearly a correlation between the machine being connected to the internet and my headaches. There is no such problem with my PC, which is connected to the same router.

A guy at the store said it could be static electricity, and sold me a considerably more expensive Belkin cable with gold plating. It didn’t fix the problem. Someone else I know said that people can get sick from using Microwave ovens so he didn’t find the situation too far-fetched (I’ve never owned a Microwave so couldn’t comment). I invited several family and friends to sit near the PS3 on different occasions and randomly activated the internet. Some developed the same uncomfortable sensation, describing it as feeling as though they were being smothered by something, and others felt nothing. It’s worth noting that my PS3 controller was always connected to the system, and so the Bluetooth would not have been enabled – though as said, the problem only occurs when the internet settings are changed.

I’m at a loss to explain this, and googling the problem I’ve only found one other example, from some random forum, buried under hundreds of results which use the word “headache” in reference to being unable to get it to work. Other searches yielded information on electromagnetic sensitivity (the descriptions of which make it seem analogous to hay fever), though without reference to PS3 usage and followed by the usual wave of opposition views. It would seem there is no consensus among the medical community regarding electromagnetic sensitivity, though seeing as the human species can be fatally allergic to something as innocuous as peanuts, nothing is beyond the realm of feasibility.

The questions remains, if it were hypothetically true: why would a wired connection produce an electromagnetic energy wave which has a biological effect? Surely it would only result with a wireless connection. Unless the PS3 generates said wireless wave even when set to wired.

Have you, the readers of HG101, heard or experienced anything like this? Does anyone have a working knowledge of the PS3 hardware? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.
Posted by Sketcz at 12:20 PM
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18 comments:

  1. That's a weird one. If many people have experienced the same very rare phenomenon with your console, maybe it's your PS3 that's defective? Unless your family has super-perception or something.

    I can't believe you got suckered into buying a gold-plated cable, though.
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  2. There's no credible evidence for human electromagnetic sensitivity, and even if there was, WiFi operates at a bare fraction of the power of a mobile phone.

    That said, the easiest way to test is to have a friend turn your PS3 on and off while you're unable to tell whether it's been activated, and see if you're able to determine when it's been activated. Psychosomatic effects can be powerful, and if you're under stress in other parts of your life, it may have found a very weird outlet.
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  3. I have a feeling the next time I start up my PS3, I'm going to feel this head pain, just because I've heard of it now. Like I can't stop the association now. :(

    I would be interested if more informed readers than me have any thoughts...
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  4. I've never owned a PS3, but I do get a headache after using the cellphone for more than 5 minutes. I do not get a headache though, if I use speakerphone and hold the phone at a considerable distance from my head (2 feet). I have always felt that human biology is not yet understood well enough to be littering our environment with radio waves, wifi waves, bluetooth, etc...

    Maybe there's something faulty in your PS3, causing it to make a stronger signal than the hardware usually would. Has this happened with anyone else's PS3 to you?
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  5. Without any knowledge of PS3 hardware, I would say it's all in your head.

    It's safe to say you have no correlation until you do a double-blind test, which shoots down EM hypersensitivity, chemical sensitivity and other controversial, subjective disorders. The so-called evidence for them usually consists of anecdotes or even in clinical trials relies on the test subjects describing what they feel. And even if someone has symptoms, they could be caused by something related, such as a bad computer chair that makes you think it's the computer causes the neck pain. Or, simply some psychological factor like the mental stress when working.

    Also, do remember a significant portion of the people defending the existence of such disorders also sell products to counter these. It's a bit same as with the gold plated cables and such things people just really, really know are somehow better but have nothing more to show.

    I suggest you to do a test, since you're a rational guy. Make a friend randomly switch the network on and off with you having no way to tell which way is it (cover the blinkenlights with a box or so) and also make sure he or she doesn't indirectly give away if it's enabled (for example, with a facial expression, people are really good at that stuff). It would be preferable if the friend even didn't know making the test double-blind but you'll need more than a cardboard box for that. For extra fun, do the same for the original test subjects you told about that had some symptoms.

    Cheers. :)
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  6. Just a suggestion: you should set up an experiment to prove that your PS3 really is the source of your headaches. Have a friend come over and activate your PS3's network connection at random times while you are sitting facing away from the TV. For best results, I'd set up a few different trials, such as one where the friend asks you at different times whether you have a headache or not, and other times they wait for you to say when your headache starts. Keep a detailed record of the results and see whether or not you are definitely predicting your PS3's network activity with better than 50% accuracy.
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  7. I dont have any head ache problems. I'm using a Ps3 Slim but I havent had any problems with the old Ps3 either.
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  8. I also get headaches pretty quickly when I use the cellphone, but I get them when I use a regular phone or headphones as well. I just don't like having the audio piped into the ear that directly, I don't think it has much to do with radio waves or anything.

    That said, does your PS3 emit a whine? Some electronics produce a barely audible whine when they are on, usually out of the hearing range of older folks but even at 26 I can still tell if there is a TV on in the house someplace simply because I can hear that it's on. Maybe you are hearing an electronic whine from the thing but it's not loud enough to register with your consciousness? I could see that as messing with your head a bit.
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  9. My PS3 is connected to the internet through a wired connection (it's an NSTC 80G system that's semi-backwards compatible), and I've never had any headaches from using it. I sometimes feel hot when I play the system, probably from the system heating up the room due to use, but I haven't felt any pain from using it online.
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  10. Yep, the most needed thing right now is a blind-test. I could agree about whining throttles, maybe in the power supply or somewhere else, it's a well-known problem. So after the blind-test it is possible to go to the warranty centre, maybe they will find the source of this problem.
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  11. @ Oranda - yeah, I too can hear when a CRT TV is on in a house by the whining sound, even if I can't hear any audio being played. A friend actually had a CRT TV which had a fault, and so made an extremely loud whining noise audible to everyone. After a couple of minutes it was like nails on a chalkboard for me. My PS3 is run through an HDTV, which is nice and silent.

    I had my brother play the PS3 for the day and at different times enable the internet, while I was in the room reading a book or something - the problem though was I aware and anticipating this, and so thought I was aware of the same discomfort. A solution would be for him to note down times and periodically ask me, but that sounds like a lot of effort. If it was psychosomatic, I'd probably need to not know when the experiment was taking place.

    I placed more value on the fact that out of 6 people who weren't told about this before hand when sitting in the area, 2 described feeling the same thing. Though this could be the environment of my flat.

    Checking other people's PS3s is a good idea, but I don't have easy access to someone with one. One person I know with a ps3, his house is a technological frontline of TVs, music, DVDs playing at all times, and small children running around with DS systems. Not really a quiet environment.

    The problem is there are countless things which cause headaches and discomfort in people. One guy I know swears that anything less than 75Hz on his PC monitor makes him feel ill. This PS3 thing isn't particularly severe, not enough to warrant lengthy experiments, but I thought I'd throw it up in case anyone had heard or experienced anything similar.
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  12. @Sketcz - I think what people are meaning by a blind test is to turn the internet on and off in a relatively short period of time in such a way that you can empirically verify if you're sensing it or not. Something like this:

    1) Split an hour up into 10 minute chunks.
    2) At the start of each ten minute chunk, have your brother either toggle the internet connection, or leave it as it is, but without telling you which he did. Whether he switches the internet connection or not, make sure he messes with the controller a bit so you can't tell if he's changing it or not for that period. He should then write down the state of the connection for that 10 minute period.
    3) When he gets up to mess with the controller, write down whether you thought the connection was on or off that period. This way you have ten minutes to get over any lingering effects if the connection went from on to off.
    4) At the end of the hour, compare notes. Maybe repeat this test 3-4 times in a week. After you have some data, see if you were able to sense it correctly more than 90% of the time or so. If you could, it's probably real, anything less than 70% success is probably just luck and I'd assume it's a psychosomatic issue.
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  13. @Sketcz

    I can attest to the 75hz thing. It's only with CRTs, not LCD displays though.

    My eyes can actually see a CRT monitor refreshing at 60hz, and even as high as 72hz. 75hz is the cut off where I can no longer see the lines and I prefer 85hz, personally.

    For people who cannot see what I'm talking about, try holding your camera phone up to a CRT display. You'll see horizontal lines moving vertically up the screen; it's obvious through a camera phone or digital camera because their display frequencies won't match up.

    After looking at a screen @60hz for more than 15 minutes my head starts to hurt and I feel nauseous.

    As for the PS3 issue, it's probably an electronic sensitivity of a sort, like what was previously mentioned about the TV whine (I hear this too...and florescent light hum...sigh).

    Try turning on background noise, light music or something and see if it makes any difference. Sometimes it's a high pitched electrical hum, and something just within or outside of human hearing, and can throw off your equilibrium, causing headaches, nausia, and disorientation.
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  14. Its called the "Galvanic Response". Some people simply have more sensitivity to EM fields than others. Have you ever tried screwing in a new lightbulb only to have it pop (die) the moment you put it in? This is a common occurence for those with a heightened Galvanic response. Or more frequent static discharges than usual can also be a sign (like rubbing your socks on the carpet x10). There is limited info about Galvanic response, and its not entirely understood, but it is quite real. I happen to have the same issue. Try turning off all non-essential electronics and lights when playing, and keep a distance from your tv. That should keep the headaches/discomfort to a minimum. The trick is to avoid unnecessary exposure to very low, or very high frequency electronics, static fields, and lightbulbs. Careful with those lightbulbs. I went through a two pack in one day last week. I just screw it in and "pop". That little filament just snaps. Gloves help with that sometimes, if you can remember.
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  15. Well the new wifi causes a EHS, or Electromagnetic Hyper Sensitivity, which is recognized by a few countries as a disabling syndrome, which you are describing perfectly. The only cure is to no longer play via wifi and get rid of all wireless devices. If you want to know more check out www.popsci.com and look for the story "the man who is allergic to radio waves." This explains what and some what why the newer devices cause this. I hope this was of some help to you.
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  16. Hi there, I also own a ps3, but my problem is caused by something different. Whenever I connect my controller, my head starts to hurt. After 15 min of playing it gets unbearable. I'm forced to play with a wired connection :(
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  17. I also got an excutiating headache whenever my son played on his WII console. Within 10 to 15 min. of the WII being turned on, I would get the same excrutiating headache, leaving me feeling disoriented and unable to think clearly. I talked to sales people at Future Shop, Best Buy and ToysRUS,to see if anyone else had complained of getting headaches from wireless game consoles and they just looked at me like I was a lunatic. I knew my headaches were real and that the WII was the cause, so I got rid of it. I bought the outdated PS2 playstation which has no wireless signals, and I have had no ill effects from it. I looked into upgrading my son's game console to PS3 thinking that the wireless technology for it might be different from the WII, as the PS2 platform can't handle a lot of the new games, but it sounds like it will also give me unbearable headaches. When I asked at the stores, I was told that the cord for the PS3 controller is just for re-charging - I was told that the bluetooth wireless signals for the controllers cannot be turned off. It is always emitting a signal. We hear all the time about the dangers of cell phones,and how studies are finding that they are linked to cancers - brain, jaw, parotid gland etc. It's about time someone opened up a dialogue about the possible dangers of wireless gaming consoles. Our kids play on these things for hours at a time....what are the wireless signals doing to them?
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  18. I can confirm that when the wire is attached to the controller it ceases giving off a wireless/bluetooth signal - I actually bought a detector for electromagnetic radiation, and it registers zero when wired, but obviously picks up the signal when the controller's wire is removed. At least my model of pack-in controller does... I'm not sure if different models behave differently.
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