If you don’t know what the Choking Game is and you have a teenager, you might want to visit YouTube and type in Choking Game or Pass Out Game to get an idea of just how prevalent the activity is.

 Slowly the video clips of what had primarily been teenagers making themselves pass out, now seem to be mingled in with video memorials of children who have died from the practice.

 

 The Centers for Disease Control National Center for Injury Prevention and Control released the findings from a study of the Choking Game this month.

 The author of the study Robin Toblin, PhD explained,” The choking game involves intentionally trying to choke oneself or someone else with ones hands or a noose to obtain a brief euphoric state or high.  If the strangulation is prolonged which is something that can happen very quickly death or serious injury can result.”

 The study analyzed media reports from all over the country.  Media reports are used because deaths from the choking game are not officially reported or recorded and they are not likely to be listed as cause of death on death certificates.

 From 1995 to 2007 media reports indicated that at least 82 youths died from the activity.  The ages ranged from 6 to 19 years old, with the average age being 13 and among those, 87% were boys.  Also, the game doesn’t seem to be limited to one area of the country, as deaths were reported in 31 states.  Nearly all of those who died as a result of the activity were alone.

 From 1995 to 2004, fewer than 3 per year reported deaths occurred.  However, there was a sharp spike in 2005 with that number rising to 22 and increasing yet again in 2006 to 35 deaths.  In 2007 there was an unexplainable decrease with 9 reported cases for the first ten months of last year. Deaths were not included in the study if auto-erotic activity was indicated or if it was uncertain that the death was a result of a suicide.

 It is unknown why there was an increase or a decrease since there is no formal means of reporting these types of deaths. The increased and decreased numbers could be merely a phenomenon related to media interest and accessibility in reporting the incidents.

 It is important to note that death is not the only result of the game.  There can be various non-fatal results of playing the Choking Game such as hemorrhages of the eyes and permanent brain damage.

 Tragically, most of the media reports suggested that nearly all parents whose children died of this activity were not aware that the activity even existed.

 The game used to be more of a group activity. Often the participant would cut off their own blood supply by placing the palms of their hand son the sides of their necks.  When they passed out, it was less likely that the blood flow would continue to be cut off.  Also, there