Citation

Santacroce R, Martinotti G, di Giannantonio M. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 2019; 139(1): 98-99.

Affiliation

Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, "G.d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/acps.12979

PMID

30347430

Abstract

In February 2018, a 14-year-old boy from Rome died by asphyxiation, strangling himself with a cable of his PlayStation. On September 6th, a same-aged free climber from Milan died similarly after hanging a climbing rope around his neck. In both cases, suicidal intention was ruled out after careful interviews with family and friends of the victims: the deaths were classified as accidental, and the parents of the two boys soon discovered that they had watched on the Internet videos related to the so-called "Blackout" or "Choking Game" (CG). This challenge appears to be trending among adolescents and pre-adolescents, who self-induce asphyxia to "prove themselves" and to "get a free high" from temporary cerebral hypoxia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en