Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Asphyxiation?Asphyxiation and Substance UseRisk Factors for AsphyxiationAutoerotic AsphyxiationRisky Practices

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What Is Asphyxiation?

Asphyxiation and Substance Use

Risk Factors for Asphyxiation

Autoerotic Asphyxiation

Risky Practices

Within the context of addiction, we tend to associate asphyxiation with a drugoverdoseor alcohol poisoning. Asphyxiation is a not uncommon outcome of certainaddictions, whether it is accidental or self-inflicted. A less common cause is the intentional self-infliction of strangulation, known as autoerotic asphyxiation.

There are several different ways that drug or alcohol use directly or indirectly causes asphyxiation death.

Pulmonary Aspiration

One way is through pulmonary aspiration, in which the inhalation of vomit into the lungs directly blocks the flow of oxygen. Unless interventions are made to clear the air passages, a person can literally choke to death on his own vomit.Sometimes the aspirated material can get into the lungs leading to pneumonia.

Respiratory Arrest via Drug Overdose

Another type of asphyxiation occurs when an overdose of a drug like heroin causes a person’s respiration to drop to where it can no longer sustain life. What ultimately starts with respiratory depression (hypoventilation) eventually becomes respiratory arrest (the complete termination of breathing).

Seizure From Withdrawal

Others cease breathing as a result of a seizure during drug or alcoholwithdrawal. This is most likely to occur outside of a substance abuse treatment center or in the absence of the appropriate medical care.

According to data from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States has climbed dramatically in recent years, increasing from just over 20,000 deaths in 2002 to 70,237 deaths in 2017.Alcohol poisoning, for which asphyxiation is a common feature, accounts for an additional 2,200 deaths each year.

Age also plays a role in the risk of death. Drug overdose deaths tend to occur mostly between the ages of 15 and 44, affecting male, female, and racial populations equally.By contrast, most people who die of alcohol poisoning are mainly White males between the ages of 35 and 64.

By and large, opioid drugs remain the leading cause of substance induced deaths in the United States, accounting for roughly 65% of overdose deaths each year.

Moreover, while 52% of drug overdose deaths are attributed to a single pharmaceutical or illicit drug, 26% involved two drugs and 22% involved three or more drugs. The combination of certain drugs are known to increase the risk of death, according to the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 2010 and 2014:

Top 10 Drugs Linked to Overdose Death

What Is Driving the Opioid Epidemic in the US?

Many AEA deaths occur in people who self-strangulate. A common scenario involves a participant who loops one end of a belt, scarf, or rope around the neck and holds the other with his or her free hand. It is presumed that if unconsciousness occurs, the belt or loop will fall out of the participant’s hand and release the tension around the neck.

Unfortunately, some deaths have occurred because the belt bar got stuck in a belt hole. Others have happened because the texture of the rope or scarf wasn’t slippery enough and ended up holding rather than releasing. Drugs and alcohol only increase the risk, impairing judgment while affecting the person’s blood pressure and respiration (particularly with depressants likebenzodiazepines).

13 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

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Coluccia A, Gabbrielli M, Gualtieri G, Ferretti F, Pozza A, Fagiolini A.Sexual Masochism Disorder with Asphyxiophilia: A Deadly yet Underrecognized Disease.Case Rep Psychiatry. 2016;2016:5474862. doi:10.1155/2016/5474862

Sauvageau A.Current Reports on Autoerotic Deaths—Five Persistent Myths.Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2014;16(1):430. doi:10.1007/s11920-013-0430-z

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