A 21-year-old Chinese woman named Wu Xiaojing went partially blind after playing a game on her phone for an entire day. Wu spent the day glued to her phone playing ‘Honor of Kings,’ a popular multi-player mobile game. The young woman, who works in finance, was playing the game for hours on end when she suddenly lost sight in her right eye.
Wu was diagnosed with Retinal Artery Occlusion, a condition usually found in elderly patients that can lead to permanent blindness. Wu admitted she is addicted to the game, and regularly plays for 8 straight hours without eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. She said, “If I don’t work, I usually get up around 6am, have breakfast, then play until 4pm.” She added, “My parents warned me that I might go blind.”
The hospital in China argues that Wu’s Retinal Artery Occlusion was likely caused by her excessive video game playing, but not everyone is so sure. The medical director of an eye clinic in London believes that there is only a slim chance her eyes were affected by staring at her phone for so many hours on end. Instead, he believes her condition might be caused by a cardiovascular disease, or even possibly migraines.
Tencent, the company that created ‘Honor of Kings,’ previously told parents to restrict kids’ playing to only one hour each day in order to prevent addiction. I think we can all agree we need to give our eyes, and our phones, a big rest.
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