Feds: "Choking Game" Has Killed 82 Youths

(AP)  At least 82 youths have died from the so-called "choking game," according to the first government count of fatalities from the tragic fad.

In the game, children use dog leashes, bungee cords wrapped around their necks or other means to temporarily cut blood flow to their head. The goal is a dreamlike, floating-in-space feeling when blood rushes back into the brain.

As many as 20 percent of teens and preteens play the game, sometimes in groups, according to some estimates based on a few local studies. But nearly all the deaths were youths who played alone, according to the count complied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC started the research after receiving a letter last year from a Tacoma, Wash., physician who said her 13-year-old son died from playing the game in 2005.

"At the time I had never heard of this," said Dr. Patricia Russell, whose son was found hanging in his closet, but later learned he had talked to a friend about it.

The CDC counted reports from media and advocacy organizations in the years 1995 through 2007, totaling 82 fatalities of children ages 6 to 19. They did not include deaths in which it was unclear if the death was from the choking game or if it was a suicide. They also did not include deaths that involved autoerotic asphyxiation, which is self-strangulation during masturbation and is said to be mainly done by adult males.

The 82 deaths were spread across the country. Nearly 90 percent were boys, at an average age of about 13, the CDC found.

The report is being published this week in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

CDC officials urged parents to be aware the fad exists, and to watch for possible warning signs like bloodshot eyes, marks on the neck, frequent and severe headaches, disorientation after spending time alone, and ropes, scarves or belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor.

The authors acknowledged that 82 is probably an undercount. They could not rely on death certificates, which do not differentiate choking-game deaths from other unintentional strangulation deaths. Instead, they relied mainly on a news database that is large but doesn't include all media outlets.

It's likely that there are about 100 U.S. choking game deaths each year, said Dr. Tom Andrew, New Hampshire's chief medical examiner, who has been studying the phenomenon for several years.

Andrew said many coroners and medical examiners likely label the deaths as suicides because they don't have the time or resources to interview a victim's friends and look for alternate explanations.

Many of the children who died form the choking game were described as bright, athletic students who apparently were intrigued by a method of getting high that doesn't involve drugs or alcohol, he said.

[rushman71]

SgtRDS: I agree with what you said. There is absolutely no proof that cannabis can do any physical, mental, or psychological damage. Too much propoganda with the "Reefer Madness". Now if only I can find that darned movie, I could have a good time smokin'' to it!!!

[sgtrds]

Oh and pot is harmless, despite the "Reefer Madness" mentality of some people out there and most people know it. The only bad thing about smoking pot is that it''s illegal. I don''t advocate it for kids (though I was hitting it at 14), but just about every pot smoker I''ve ever known has led normal lives of finishing school (including in many cases graduate school) working, serving in the military (as I did, getting married, paying bills and just generally being the average family up the street.

[sgtrds]

I can%u2019t believe that someone as stupid as you comes up and suggests that our schools are better off with drugs in them. I%u2019m wondering what grade school you dropped out of.

Posted by marcpcbs at 09:20 PM : Feb 14, 2008

And I''m wondering what ethics class you dropped out from considering that you twisted my words and meaning so incredibly far to come up with this cheap shot. Either that our your just fu*cking ignorant that you actually took my words to mean this pile of sh*it you posted.

[marcpcbs]

SgtRDS

There%u2019s already a ton of pot in our schools and it%u2019s not harmless. It causes our kids to loose their memories and that%u2019s death to a student. The drop out rate is higher than it has ever been and pot is the main reason. I can%u2019t believe that someone as stupid as you comes up and suggests that our schools are better off with drugs in them. I%u2019m wondering what grade school you dropped out of.

[kritty3]

10 years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, kids use to make themselves "pass out". But from holding your breath and pressing on chest.
It is scary-stupid-dangerous, but these things have been going on for years

[sgtrds]

that one oakysphines, whispering pines, dancing trees guys plays that game still! He makes reference to it in his posts when he talks about naked girls and dancing trees (insert spine shiver here) c-r-e-e-p-y

Posted by sbbm at 07:53 PM : Feb 14, 2008

I''m convinced it''s singinrick on coke.

[sgtrds]

Did they really have to say a "Dreamlike Floating in Space" feeling? That sounds great.

Posted by dnamj at 05:25 PM : Feb 14, 2008

Yeah but any decent homegrown pot can give you the same feeling and it''s harmless.

[sgtrds]

"kilning"?

Da*mn speel chequer! I meant killing! I''d better be careful or roasting yourself to death in a kiln might just become the next ignorant fad.

[sgtrds]

Idiots like these kilning themselves can''t help but to improve the gene pool.

[rudy654-2009]

It''s amazing but it''s true. I have had to talk with parents about their kids doing this so-called game. The parents were shocked. The kids were also shocked, as they really didn''t believe that it could kill them.