Erotic asphyxiation

Female undergoing erotic asphyxiation (getting choked)

Erotic asphyxiation is a sexual act where strangling is used to increase sexual pleasure. It can result in accidental death. If a person is doing it alone, it is called autoerotic asphyxiation.

Autoerotic asphyxiation is a sexual act where someone restricts their own breathing for sexual pleasure.

It has been documented since about the 17th century. At first it was used as a treatment of erectile dysfunction. The idea for this most likely came from watching people who were executed by hanging. Observers at public hangings noted that male victims developed an erection, sometimes remaining after death (a death erection), and occasionally ejaculated when being hanged.

Methods

There are different methods to achieve the level of oxygen depletion needed. Examples include hanging, suffocation with a plastic bag over the head, and self-strangulation. or a combination of these. Complicated devices are sometimes used to produce the desired effects. The practice can be dangerous even if performed with care. It has resulted in many accidental deaths. Uva (1995) writes "Estimates of the mortality rate of autoerotic asphyxia range from 250 to 1000 deaths per year in the United States." Cases have also been reported in Scandinavia and Germany. Swedish police reported in 1994 that the number of autoerotic asphyxiation fatalities in the Stockholm area (c. 1.7 million inhabitants) were at least five annually, but the number of unrecorded cases was assumed to be high. Autoerotic asphyxiation may often be mistaken for suicide, which is a major cause of death in teenagers.

Very often, people control their asphixiation. When they lose consciousness, they are no longer able ot control it. As a result, they often die. While choking may be a form of sex play with a partrner, people also often do it alone.

Most people who die from auoeroticx asphixiation are male; among all known cases in Ontario and Alberta from 1974 to 1987, only 1 out of 117 cases was female. Some individual cases of women with erotic asphyxia have been reported. The main age of accidental death is mid-20s, but deaths have been reported in adolescents and in men in their 70s.

References

  1. ↑ "Erotic Asphyxiation". Lust Magazine. 1997. Archived from the original on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Blanchard, R.; Hucker, S. J. (1991). "Age, transvestism, bondage, and concurrent paraphilic activities in 117 fatal cases of autoerotic asphyxia". British Journal of Psychiatry. 159 (3): 371–377. doi:10.1192/bjp.159.3.371. PMID 1958948. S2CID 20137589.
  3. ↑ O'Halloran, R. L.; Dietz, P. E. (1993). "Autoerotic fatalities with power hydraulics". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 38 (2): 359–364. doi:10.1520/JFS13416J. PMID 8454997.
  4. ↑ Uva, J. L. (1995). "Review: Autoerotic asphyxiation in the United States". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 40 (4): 574–581. doi:10.1520/JFS13828J. PMID 7595293.
  5. ↑ Innala, S. M.; Ernulf, K. F. (1989). "Asphyxiophilia in Scandinavia". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 18 (3): 181–189. doi:10.1007/BF01543193. PMID 2787626. S2CID 42384991.
  6. 1 2 Janssen, W.; Koops, E.; Anders, S.; Kuhn, S.; Püschel, K. (2005). "Forensic aspects of 40 accidental autoerotic death in Northern Germany". Forensic Science International. 147S: S61–S64. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.09.093. PMID 15694733.
  7. ↑ Koops, E.; Janssen, W.; Anders, S.; Püschel, K. (2005). "Unusual phenomenology of autoerotic fatalities". Forensic Science International. 147S: S65–S67. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.09.095. PMID 15694734.
  8. ↑ Olof Westerberg: "Sexlekar allt vanligare dödsorsak", Vasabladet 31 August 1994.
  9. ↑ Downs, Martin (1 January 2005). "The Highest Price For Pleasure: A Deadly Turn-On". WebMD. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Behrendt, N.; Buhl, N.; Seidl, S. (2002). "The lethal paraphilic syndrome: Accidental autoerotic deaths in four women and a review of the literature". International Journal of Legal Medicine. 116 (3): 148–152. doi:10.1007/s00414-001-0271-x. PMID 12111317. S2CID 24969597.
  11. ↑ Martz, D. (2003). "Behavioral treatment for a female engaging in autoerotic asphyxiation" (PDF). Clinical Case Studies. 2 (3): 236–242. doi:10.1177/1534650103002003006. S2CID 145098915. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  12. ↑ Sass, F. (1975). "Sexual asphyxia in the female". Journal of Forensic Sciences. 2: 181–185. doi:10.1520/JFS10256J.
  13. 1 2 Burgess, A. W.; Hazelwood, R. R. (1983). "Autoerotic deaths and social network response". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 53 (1): 166–170. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1983.tb03361.x. PMID 6829721.
  14. ↑ Shankel, L. W.; Carr, A. C. (1956). "Transvestism and hanging episodes in a male adolescent". Psychiatric Quarterly. 30 (3): 478–493. doi:10.1007/BF01564363. PMID 13359556.
  15. ↑ Sheehan, W.; Garfinkel, B. D. (1987). "Adolescent autoerotic deaths". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 27 (3): 367–370. doi:10.1097/00004583-198805000-00017. PMID 3379021.
  16. ↑ Edmondson, J. S. (1972). "A case of sexual asphyxis without fatal termination". British Journal of Psychiatry. 121 (563): 437–438. doi:10.1192/bjp.121.4.437. PMID 5077101. S2CID 35353344.