It is the increasingly popular sexual act that has raised concerns among doctors across the country.
According to a recent study, a staggering 58 percent of female college students have experienced asphyxiation, medically known as sexual strangulation, during intimate moments.
But now the strange “switching on,” popularized by Gen Z TV shows like HBO’s Euphoria and the blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey, has been shown to cause alarming damage to the brain, which could be permanent.
Research has shown that women who had been choked four times over the previous 30 days experienced changes in their brain structures that affected their ability to perform working memory tasks.
The research was conducted by sexual and reproductive health researcher Dr. Debbie Herbinick, who is one of the scientists leading research into the harms of choking.
Dr. Debbie Herbinick, a sexual and reproductive health researcher, is one of the scientists leading research into the harms of choking.
Other studies she led have shown that choking and other forms of rough sex are not only common among young people, but also expected of them.
Restricted blood flow to the brain can cause it to stop functioning at its normal capacity immediately and can undergo tissue necrosis or death in as little as five minutes due to lack of oxygen and glucose supply.
The risks of sexual intercourse lie in the damage caused by depriving the brain of oxygen.
Even if this is only for short periods of time, like 10 seconds, it can cause someone to pass out. Minutes without oxygen can cause permanent brain damage.
Neurons, or brain cells, begin to wither and die. To survive, they draw on emergency fuel reserves, which generate lactic acid in the bloodstream, eventually causing tissue damage to the heart, kidneys and liver after about 20 minutes.
The appeal, proponents say, is the euphoria felt by the sudden rush of oxygen that is unleashed when the partner lets go.
Dr. Herbernick said: “There is a great concern about adolescents and young people who do this, who do not yet have full knowledge and information about these behaviors, who perhaps have very limited practice or experience in communicating about sexuality.” .
“Even historically, in the kink and BDSM communities, choking, which is what choking actually is, has been off-limits to most and seen as sort of a weird or niche behavior that interested a small subset of people and what they needed. very careful consent, communication and education.’
Areas illuminated in red and orange represent the choking group that had thicker brain areas in many regions, including parts of the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes, in both hemispheres involved in a long list of processes including facial recognition , decision making. Decision making, self-awareness and motor movements.
The group that had been asphyxiated showed significant changes in fractal dimensionality (a measure of the complexity of brain structures, which indicates how intricate and detailed the surface of the cortex is) in several brain regions compared to the group that had not been asphyxiated. previously smothered, with increases in some areas and decreases. in others
Areas in blue represent the asphyxiation group that exhibited significantly less brain folding (gyrification) compared to the non-asphyxiation group in several brain regions involved in decision making, planning, emotional regulation, reward processing , language and speech processing.
A study in the magazine. Brain behavior They looked at two groups of 41 women, one group who had been choked in the past 30 days and one who had not, to see how the practice affected their brain structure.
The asphyxiation group exhibited significantly greater cortical thickness in multiple brain regions involved in facial recognition, visual processing, and memory. compared to the group that had not suffocated, suggesting that the structure of their brains had changed, perhaps permanently.
These structural changes could be associated with differences in cognitive functions or sensory processing.
Measures of the complexity of brain structures were mixed: the asphyxia group had greater volume in regions involved in touch processing, emotional processing, recognition of other faces and bodies, but decreased size of the areas involved in working memory, higher executive functioning, and self-awareness. and visual processing.
But the study authors warned: “It is possible that individuals who were predisposed to mental illnesses such as depression already have altered cortical morphology and therefore become more prone to risky behaviors.”
The practice of choking during sexual relations is a relatively new phenomenon. Having progressed beyond hiding in specialized corners of the Internet on porn sites (which have flourished), intimate choking is now a common fixture in pop culture.
Beyond Euphoria, musicians like Jack Harlow and comedians like Ali Wong have shared their preference for this practice.
The first episode of Max’s show Euphoria shows a character, Cassie, having sex with a partner who strangles her, assuming she would enjoy it. He didn’t ask her first.
Meanwhile, Jack Harlow sings in his song Lovin On Me: “I’m vanilla, baby, I’ll strangle you, but I’m not a murderer, baby.”
And comedian Ali Wong said: ‘I’m a bossy person, so you be the boss, okay? Just choke me enough so I can’t talk. Because if I can talk, I’ll tell you what to do.”
A 2022 study reported that women who were asphyxiated at least once experienced loss of consciousness, indicating at least mild acquired brain injury, seizures, motor and speech disorders, and paralysis.
Sam Pybus, 32, from the UK killed his lover Sophie Moss, 33, (pictured) by applying pressure to her neck during sex.
Sam Pybus, 32, with his now ex-wife Louise Howitt, was jailed for four years and eight months after admitting the manslaughter of Sophie Moss, a vulnerable mother-of-two whom he strangled to death in bed.
Psychological outcomes included post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidality, and dissociation. Cognitive and behavioral symptoms were described less frequently but included memory loss, increased aggression, compliance, and failure to seek help.
Dr. Herbernick said, “I think parents are mostly very surprised to hear about these changes in sexual behavior among teenagers and young adults, college students, etc. Because these were not typical behaviors, when people who currently They are between 40, 50 and 60 years old. That’s why it is very difficult for people to believe, and even accept, that this could be like this.’
On February 7, Sam Pybus from the United Kingdom pressed his girlfriend Sophie Moss’s neck while they were having sex at their home. She had previously asked him to do it, so he was technically consensual. Pybus said he was drunk when he fatally strangled the mother of two.
The case has been highlighted as the latest in a series of examples in which men accused of killing women have used a “rough sex defence”.
It maintains that the strangled person ‘asked’ his partner to carry out the act that led to the homicide, adding that the homicide was the result of sexual practices that the victim consented to and possibly demanded.
Mr Pybus was sentenced to just four years and eight months after pleading guilty to manslaughter and not murder as there was nothing to suggest he intended to kill her or cause her serious harm.