The mysterious Pokémon song that caused suicides in children

Over the last few years, it has been relatively common to attribute certain damages to video games in the education of children. Alienation, trivialization of violence, and even epileptic attacks.

Is the legend that Pokémon caused suicides true?

However, these epileptic pictures have existed only in a timely manner and no deaths derived from them have been documented. The entertainment companies have wanted to minimize the social alarm of these cases, well it is true, argue that television, midnight lights and other lighting circumstances can trigger such attacks.

While the general concern about video games was intense in the 90s, there is one case that caused quite a stir. In 1995, Game Freak marketed its first pokemon video game, the famous Red and Green versions.

• Related article: "Suicides: data, statistics and associated mental disorders"

The reality exceeds fiction

From the outset they had an acceptable sales range, exceeding one million cartridges sold in one year, but far from the magnitude that the phenomenon reached in later years. The game went on the market in February, and that same summer they had already posted

107 cases of suicides in young people between 6 and 12 years of age.

The investigations into each of the deaths led to a common circumstance that pointed to the Pokémon video game as responsible. In each and every one of the registered cases, the parents of the deceased children pointed out that their children played Pokémon day and night.

Once the cartridges were analyzed, the police realized that the last city where the children played was Pueblo Lavanda, whose lands were enlivened by a very characteristic sound. The Lavender Town song contained moments of high intensity in tones that could only be heard by children. Shrill, overwhelming sounds that caused headaches that led to severe migraines, followed by insomnia and irritability. Despite the harsh symptoms, his addiction to the video game did not stop. The inability to fall asleep led to nosebleeds, nausea and vomiting, and finally depressive symptoms.

The culprit, a double tone that caused headaches and anxiety

Alerted by these cases, Game Freak corrected the melody, preventing the following versions marketed in Europe and the United States from containing the dangerous song. Game Freak sources claimed that the later song is almost identical to the original.

Just removed some squeaks that caused double-tone melodies in the original music, sounds that could only be perceived by children due to their high spectrum.