The “choking game”, deliberately cutting off blood flow to the brain in order to achieve a thrill, has been played by nearly one in seven students who were surveyed at a Texas university, a new study finds.
This so-called ‘game’ is played individually or in groups and is done by choking oneself or others, applying a ligature around the neck, placing a plastic bag over the head, placing heavy objects on the chest (the study also mentions hyperventilating, which is different, in that the airway is not obstructed).
The investigators conducted a survey of 837 university students and found that 16 percent reported having played the choking game and 72 percent of those students said they had done so more than once. The average age when students first played the choking game was 14, and 90 percent of those who had played the game first heard about it from peers.
The news release from Sam Houston State University coyly does not mention the sexual aspect but it’s a well-known phenomenon. Some women like to be throttled during intercourse, to enhance their sexual experience. Sometimes it goes tragically wrong and she dies; the man is charged with murder.
It’s a very silly idea.
It’s quite unsettling to realize that one in seven have tried it, 72% more than once. You’d think college students were not so silly. Apparently, they are.
Can any subscriber tell me if this game has appeared in Europe?
[SOURCE: Sam Houston State University, news release, Jan. 18, 2012]
Hi Doc – can’t speak to Europe but popular in Canada – a friend lost a grade school family member to this craz – e – ness.
Will
This is not new. I first heard that young people were doing this about 20 yrs ago, as an enhancement to the auto-erotic experience. Apparently at some point couples began incorporating it into their repertoires. Of course its silly, but the often tragic results aren’t. I don’t know if the Europeans have picked up on this.