Have you heard of using sleeper holds as a way to get high?

Question

My granddaughter told me about what looked like a sleeper hold her friend does to pass out. She says it make you feel funny. I need help!!

Answer 1

Teens Playing Suffocation Roulette With Choking Game

There is a new addiction that children can easily hide from their parents -- it is known as the choking game. Experts say that children who play the choking game are not usually troubled, and that is what troubles parents.

Those who try it say that it is a high without drugs, but they are playing suffocation roulette.

Kimberly Wilson, 15, used a bicycle chain lock. Her mother found her.

Gabriel Mordecai, 13, used a rope in his bedroom. His twin brother, Sam, found him.

Chelsea Dunn, 13, used a belt inside her bedroom closet.

"She was taken because she chose to do something really stupid, and it angers me," Chelsea's mother said.

These teens, and others as young as 9, have all died playing the choking game. Ask almost any middle-school student and they have probably heard about it.

"My friend was telling me that she was with people who did it and I don't know if she tried it or not, but they had fun doing it. It was like a game," one child said.

"Instead of drugs -- to get a rush or something," another child said.

"It's different. Everybody wants to try something different. Everyone's got a little Curious George in them," said Zach Davis, 15.

The game has many names, such as pass out, dream game, blackout and flatliner, but the goal is always the same -- cut off your oxygen until you pass out. That is the first high -- death's door. Then comes the second high, when oxygen rushes back to your brain.

A rush is what children seem to want. Some crave it so badly that many are playing the game alone using things that could be found around the house like bed sheets, dog leashes, belts and shoestrings. Whatever they're using, the results can be fatal.

"If you cross that fine line where your brain is requesting oxygen, you're dead," aid Dr. Ashish Sinha, an anesthesiologist at the Hospital for the University of Philadelphia.

Three minutes is all takes to do irreversible damage, Sinha said. Cutting off oxygen for that long can affect memory, balance and the central nervous system. Sinha used NBC 10 reporter Laurie Delgado's hand to show her how quickly oxygen can be cut off to the brain.

"You realize your palm is turning white and getting cool. Watch it turn pink when I let go," Sinha said to Delgado.

Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University, said that most of the children who play the game are "typical kids" just acting impulsively.

"You get talking about it, or something, and then, well, they're like, 'Let's try that,' and the assumption is you're not going to kill yourself," Farley said.

The parents of Kimberly, Gabriel and Chelsea all now know that their children played the choking game dozens of times before it killed them.

Experts say it is an easy addiction to hide.

"You check their eyes and you make sure they're not on drugs and you see other signs, but how would I ever see that sign?" said Kathy Davis, Zach Davis' mother.

"The consequences are horrible. I guess if more people knew the consequences, more people thought about it before they did it, it wouldn't be as much of a problem as it has become," Zach Davis said.

Here are some of the clues to look for that would indicate your child might be experimenting with the choking game.

Bloodshot eyes

Unusual marks on neck

Belts and ropes with unusual knots found in your child's bedroom and tied to furniture

Answer 2

Unfortuantely yes. If applied correctly a "sleeper hold" cuts off the circulation of blood from the main artery to the brain causing you to black out. If applied and released at a certain point before the person on the recieving end passes out, he or she will have the flow of blood come back and thus the rush. Kinda like sitting down for a while and getting up to fast, kind of head rush. Over time, with repeated attempts such actions can cause damage to the brain as you are cutting off both blood and oxygen to the brain. Also if the person leaves it on for too long, the result could be permanent brain damage or even death. Tell your grand-daughter to stop doing this immediately. It is too dangerous.

Answer 3

Have you heard that 75% of all kids, some as young as 9, have tried some sort of choking game in order to get off while masturbating or just to get a "funny feeling." Hundreds of kids have died as a result of these ignorant foolish experiments, including one from my town recently. Many are covered up as suicides by parents and authorities. Parents have to talk to their kids and warn them that experimenting while young is a huge danger and that parents are there to be the voice of reason to developing minds.

Answer 4

yeah...its like an easy, free and very dangerous way to simulate that euphoric feeling from getting high. bascically you are choking the life out of you or one of your friends. the 'high' feeling is the oxygen supply being cut off to your brain. if your grand daughter participates with her friends, I hope someone is an EMT or trained in CPR, as it is very likely that someone may lose consciousness and in some cases actually DIE. thats typically what happens when you are strangled. Where do people come up with this??? please intervene or say something!

Answer 5

this is really dangerous, people die from it so have her stop, im a teenager and my friend does it, not a sleeper hold but he holds his breath in and has someone push hard on his chest with his back to a wall, he passes out for about five seconds and wakes up, its stuid, and dangerous to her life

Answer 6

Asphyxiation can lead to a sense of euphoria; it's the body's reaction to the oxygen being cut off from the brain. This is definitely not a healthy activity. It's about the same as just grabbing your throat and choking yourself to death. Maybe you want to use some scare tactics with your granddaugther to scare her about it?

Answer 7

Yes and people die from it. It's called autoerotic asphyxia. The asphyxia part is where it's suddenly not fun.

Answer 8

That is a horrible way to get high! You can die that way, a lot of people have. Please get her to stop and get some help before it is too late.

Answer 9

its not funny it cuts off oxegyn to the brain.. esentially killing brain cells.. tell her not to do this , its dangerous

Answer 10

Yes, it deprives your brain of oxygen, brings you neer death. It is very very dangerous. and destroys brain cells.... they never grow back.