Monday 7 September 2009

Auto-erotic Asphyxiation


Marquis de Sade wrote about it in 1787 in his novel Justine, asphyxiation has been practiced for erectile disfynction (early records back to the 1600). Children all over the world play games where they hyperventilate to get "high", and when you have an orgasm you hold your breath and tighten your muscles, seconds before the release. Some of you will remember the singer from INXS who died from auto-erotic asphyxiation jn 1997, and most recently David Carradine (famous actor) was found dead in his hotel room in Bankok due to auto-erotic asphyxiation.
Yet most of you don't know much about this strange practice. Breath control is something so deviant most will live their life not knowing about it's obscure, and deadly nature. Estimated deaths pr year is 500-1000 in the united states alone. I don't have statistics for the rest of the world but cases are found worldwide. Boys as young as 12-13, and even men in their 80's, but most frequently caucasian men in their 20's. The numbers tell us that the number of people who practice this dangerous sex game, is probaly quite high.

Auto-erotic asphyxiation is a complex subject, with several sub groups and I will only deal with some of them in this blog (I will leave out assisted asphyxiation). Since this is a very private practise, interviewing cases is not an easy task. Considering this, most of the information is found in the investigation of accidental deaths, interviewing family members and partners. Some of the cases can be further complicated with regards to determining whether or not it was a homocide or a suicide, but for the trained experts there are certain criteria that must be met for it to be an auto-erotic asphyxiation death. Family members who are so unfortunate to find their loved ones in such a grotesque setting are know to clean up the room, thus making it impossible for police too know that auto-erotic asphyxiation was the cause of death.
What we do know from interviewing familymembers and partners is that behaviour prior to their death commonly include mood swings and anxiety, but rarely suicidal tendencies.
And let's be honest, who would want to kill them self and be found dead with various deviant porn spread out all over the floor, while having a wooden leg stuck up their ass, dressed up in female clothing?

Auto-erotic asphyxiation is, simply put, cutting off the blood supply to the brain causing enhanced sexual pleasure. It is dangerous because the time it takes from cutting off the oxygen to loosing consciousness might be as short as 7 seconds, with as little as seven punds of pressure.
This is why mind blowing and impressive safety mechanisms are so often found. Some of the cases I have read are so intricate it would impress any engineer. It is obviously something they must have spent a great deal of time to perfect. The intention is to survive, not to die from the ritual. But for every death, we are left with more information.

I've read alot on the psychological nature asumed to be the triggers, but most of it is outdated freudian bullshit. As with any fetish the triggers are higly individual. Interestingly though, very few female cases are known. I am assuming this has to do with male vs. female sexuality (and that is different blog alltogether). As mentioned above, porn is very common as well as other fetish elements.

This practice naturally involves a great deal of pain, so we must include elements of masochism in our understanding of the subject. And don't think we are just talking about rope meets neck. Oh no, people chain themselves to moving cars, hang themselves from ladders in sewers, they wrap themselves in carpets, use plastic bags, intricate rope systems, toxic fumes, tractors and so on. Combine this with any fetish imaginable and we are left with one of the most complex sexual practices known to mankind.

Interestingly these people live on the edge of life in more ways than one. First they practise masturbation which by itself is a taboo. Second, they engange in a fetish witch is another taboo, and third, they master (most of the time) controlling their body and breath and thus having the power to controll life and pleasure itself. From the few interviews that exist we know that asphyxiation is something they practise frequently and obsessivly. I wonder if this can be related to the release of dopamine (pleasure chemical produced by the brain) thereby creating an addiction.

Sexuality is complex and varied, and even though auto-erotic asphyxiation might seem too bizarre for most of you, it can be your husband or your boss. Deviation is not a sign we carry around our necks. Pun intended.

(Sorry for not posting more pics, but all my photos are in books and the net is no longer filled with sick shit as it used to be way back when I first discovered Vicki's Necrobabes.....)

11 comments:

  1. Sounds great, can't wait to get home and try it!
    thanks for the info.

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  2. Im sure you can find an easier way to top your self off if that is your intentions, mate.
    And if your just in for the thrill, have a good one and let me know how it went.

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  3. Les Cent Vingt Journees De Sodom is a powerful book. It is a catalogue of manias and enigmas that either leave you in shock or philosophise about these curious behaviours.

    Having read the book and watched Pier Paolo Passolini's (tame) version of it, it no doubt in my mind is an insight into libertinism to the nth degree. Manias and 'perversions' have existed for centuries (hence the title of the book - Sodom) and still to this day, they still exist. The internet has provided an open portal for such individuals to pass and share their 'passions' freely. And it is true what you say, that what may shock and disgust one person would probably delight another.

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  4. I have ben trying to get hold of Hazselwood's book for years, no luck. Had to settle for Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Forensic, Medical, and Social Aspects by Sergey Sheleg and Edwin Ehrlich.

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  5. Have you read A 120 Days in Sodom?

    Stomach churning reading, if you can get past all the coprophilia etc, but flashes of genuis in the now defunct Marquis...

    A lesson in psychology, even to this day Batcheeba...

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  6. I'm really starting to warm to you girl...

    Clever, very clever!

    I remember as a teenager (not for sexual pleasure, mind) but as a group of mates, one of us breathing deeply for several minutes then standing against a wall while another mate/idiot pressed hard against the chest...you passed out!

    When you regained conciousness, it was like -
    "Wow, that was great! let's do it again!"

    Not realising how it can cut off the oxygen supply to the brain....(what brains?)

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  7. I mention that in this blog, children still engage in it. Not knowing it can cause the famous inprinting - creating the foundation for their sexual preferances.

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  8. M: yes. I have read quite alot by M.S. The film (1975)was very shitty (pun intended)

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  9. Lol x 10...Yeah, apparently they use marmalade mixed with chocolate to get the effect!

    But it was very, VERY tame compared to the dark gothic, and very bloody novel that was a 120 days...

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  10. That is so interesting! I did not know those were the reason people did this.

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