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erotic asphyxiation

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Also known as breath control play, asphyxiophilia, autoerotic asphyxia, hypoxyphilia, breath play

intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal

Wikidata facts

Instance of
cause of death
Image
Choke (6) (49705831748).jpg
Show 2 more facts
Commons category
Breath play
different from
Suicide
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

A woman choking a man for erotic purposes Erotic asphyxiation (variously called asphyxiophilia, hypoxyphilia or breath control play) is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. With a partner (or alone), the act often involves strangulation. The term autoerotic asphyxiation is used when the act is done by a person to themself. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a gasper. Erotic asphyxiation can lead to accidental death due to asphyxia.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, and internationally it may be diagnosed as a paraphilic disorder, because it involves significant risk of injury or death.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “erotic asphyxiation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.