Erotic asphyxiation - Definition and Overview

Erotic asphyxiation, asphyxiophilia, breath control play or scarfing is the extremely dangerous sexual practice of partial asphyxiation by strangulation or suffocation of one person by another during sexual intercourse. The decrease of blood to the brain is said to heighten sexual pleasure. It results in many deaths each year. Deaths often occur through sudden cardiac arrest. It has also been speculated that in some cases erotic asphyxiation may have triggered the little-known phenomenon of carotid sinus reflex death.

It is also likely to lead to brain damage through loss of oxygenation to the brain.

Since both strangulation and suffocation have been used as methods of execution, it is unsurprising that this sexual practice is frequently lethal. In the event of a death involving this practice, the surviving participant may well be charged with murder or manslaughter.

This practice was depicted as leading to the death of a character in Rising Sun, a movie based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It was also used in the less publicised 2003 movie Young and Seductive, starring Julian Wells, Alana Evans, and Robert Donovan.

See also

• Anoxia
• Autoerotic asphyxia
• Choke hold

External links

• The Medical Realities of Breath Control Play (http://members.aol.com/Oldrope/breath.htm) by Jay Wiseman