              Though  the  1980's  may  be the twilight of the sexual
               revolution, one sex practice  that has  yet to  see the
               light of day is Autoerotic Asphyxia (hereafter referred
               to   as   AA).   While    homosexuality,   bisexuality,
               pedophilia, sadomasochism,  incest and  a host of other
               practices have become household conversation topics, AA
               has  been  confined  to  the  back  pages  of  esoteric
               forensic science journals.

               What is AA? Although it may have some variations, it is
               basically the  act of  hanging oneself  in order to cut
               off  oxygen   and  blood   flow  to   the  brain  while
               masturbating.  The  idea  seems  to be that the hypoxia
               (lack of Oxygen) and ischemia (lack of blood  flow) can
               contribute  to  the  intensity  of  sexual  arousal and
               orgasm.

               Almost always, people learn about AA  after someone has
               died from it.

               It  is  undoubtedly  the  most  dangerous  of  all  sex
               practices. Approximately 500 to 1000 people die from it
               each  year.  It  has  claimed  the  lives of cartoonist
               Vaughn Bode and actor Albert Dekker. Years ago, medical
               examiners often made the mistaken conclusion that these
               deaths   were   suicidal   hangings.   Several  factors
               differentiate an AA hanging from suicidal hanging.

                    1.   The feet  are often touching the ground. This
                         enables the practitioner to vary the pressure
                         that the  ligature is applying to the neck by
                         lifting his body up or down from the floor.

                    2.   The rope  or  ligature  is  often  tied  in a
                         highly  complex   manner.  This  is  done  to
                         provide an "escape  mechanism"  to manipulate
                         the pressure  on the neck with arms, legs, or
                         torso.

                    3.   The victim will often have padding around the
                         neck   to   prevent   tell-tale  bruises  and
                         abrasions.

                    4.   Pornography is present.

                    5.   The victim  had  no  known  motive  to commit
                         suicide.

               In some  cases the  family of the victim may modify the
               scene in order to eliminate the stigma of a sex-related
               death. This obviously creates considerable problems for
               the  investigator  trying  to  determine  exactly  what
               happened.

               To compound  this problem  is the question of insurance
               settlements. If the victim had a  life insurance policy
               covering accidental  death, the  family of the deceased
               will argue that the death was accidental. The insurance
               company will argue that the victim knowingly engaged in
               a life threatening behavior and thus the death  was not
               wholly accidental.  the courts  are still debating this
               question.

               If AA practitioners create  elaborate escape mechanisms
               for themselves,  then why  do they die? The reason lies
               in the physiology of  the  heart  and  the  nerves that
               regulate  it.  The  body  has  feedback  mechanisms for
               controlling blood pressure. At  several  points  in the
               vascular   system   there   exist   structures   called
               baroreceptor.    Baroreceptor    sense    changes    in
               blood  pressure  and  produce  nervous  impulses  which
               respond  to  those  changes.  When  pressures   on  the
               baroreceptor  are  too  low,  impulses are fired to the
               heart and brain that lead to an increase  in heart rate
               and  force  of  contraction.  This occurs, for example,
               when one stands up suddenly from a horizontal position.
               Gravity draws  blood down  from the  brain and pressure
               drops. The baroreceptor sense the lowered  pressure and
               fire,  raising  blood  pressure,  increasing  force  of
               contraction, and returning blood  to the  brain. One of
               the areas of the body with the highest concentration of
               baroreceptor  is  the  nick.  Thus,  when  pressure  is
               applied  to   the  baroreceptor  (as  in  hanging)  the
               opposite  of   the   above-mentioned   process  occurs.
               Powerful impulses  are sent  to the  brain and slow the
               heart, decrease force of  contraction, and  lower blood
               pressure.  This  phenomenon  is  called  carotid  sinus
               reflex. As little as seven pounds of pressure can cause
               this to occur.

               If a person is engaged in AA and is already cutting off
               oxygen and blood  flow  to  the  brain,  the additional
               slowing of  the heart  can cause rapid unconsciousness.
               So rapid, in fact,  that  the  victim  may  not  have a
               chance to release himself from the ligature. Death soon
               follows.

               Who  practices  AA?  Generally  young,  white  males of
               average or  above-average intelligence.  Often they are
               socially withdrawn and may dabble in  sado-masochism or
               bondage. AA  in females is so rare that entire articles
               in  forensic  journals  are  devoted  to   single  case
               histories.

               A typical  case history is that of Clarey Faye reported
               in the March, 1985  edition of  Vanity Fair.  As Clarey
               moved into  adolescence, he became introverted. "He was
               still going to therapists off and on, but  no one could
               alleviate his  black moods. He was playing less Bach on
               his cello and more hard rock on his guitar". He  kept a
               journal,  composed  of  a secret language consisting of
               Arabic,  Sanskrit,  and  Greek  characters.  Repeatedly
               written on a page was the single word "phosphene". This
               very   possibly   refers   to   the   reports   of   AA
               practitioners, describing "seeing stars". Clarey was 16
               years old when he was found dead by his mother, hanging
               nude by  his belt  from a bar in his bathroom. A mirror
               was  positioned  so  that  he  could  view  himself (an
               unusually common theme in AA deaths).

               Not all AA practitioners use a neck ligature to produce
               hypoxia and ischemia.  There  are  primarily  two other
               means.  These  are  suffocating  environment  and chest
               compression.  Tow   cases   from   forensic  literature
               illustrate the  former method. In the first case, a man
               used  semi-drowning  ("aqua-eroticum")  in  a  lake  to
               provide a masturbation opportunity. In the second case,
               a Yale graduate constructed an airtight  vinyl bag that
               he  zippered  himself  into.  He  also  bound his hands
               behind his back with a short length of chain. His penis
               was wrapped  with a Saran-Wrap-rubber-band condom. Both
               men died.

               In chest  compression, the  movement of  the ribcage is
               restricted or  the diaphragm movement is cut off. Cases
               of death resulting from asphyxia in a garbage  can, and
               suspension  by  a  rope  around  the  abdomen have been
               reported. In the first case, the victim intended to use
               a roll  of chicken wire (?) as an escape mechanism. The
               mechanism failed and the man died. In the  second case,
               a  man  winched  himself  up  off  the ground by a rope
               wrapped around  his abdomen.  He was  unable to release
               the winch  which led to his death. A high blood alcohol
               content  probably  contributed  to   his  inability  to
               release  the  winch.  It  was  not  known whether fecal
               matter found at the scene was part of an erotic fantasy
               or due to extreme intestinal pressure.

               Various  other  asphyxial  scenarios  come  to mind (my
               mind) that have yet  to appear  in forensic literature.
               Consider  that  perennial  child-killer:  the abandoned
               refrigerator.  It  is  dark,   airtight,  and  private.
               Perfect for  furtive AA.  Do you  have sexual fantasies
               about Mama Cass Elliot? How about ham sandwich asphyxia
               while masturbating? Do you get off on the music of John
               Bonham or Jimi  Hendrix?  How  about  AA  with inspired
               comitus?  Off-the-deep-end  conspiracy  types  will  no
               doubt suggest that these  deaths were  truly autoerotic
               asphyxial in nature and were simply "covered up".

               Perhaps the  most bizarre case of a (quasi) AA death in
               the literature is that  of  J.C.  Rupp's  classic "Love
               Bug". An  airline pilot  drove his  Volkswagen Bug to a
               secluded, roughly circular, flat  clearing. He stripped
               naked  and  attached  around  his torso a chain harness
               which was attached to the Bug's  rear bumper  by a ten-
               foot length  of chain. He tied his belt to the steering
               wheel and  strapped  it  down  so  that  the  wheel was
               completely counter-clockwise. He started the engine and
               let the Bug pull  him in  overlapping circles.  At some
               point,  he   tired  of  this  and  approached  the  car
               presumably to turn off  the  engine.  At  this  point a
               serious "pilot error" occurred. The chain began to wind
               around the left rear  axle and  he was  pulled into the
               left wheel  area and asphyxiated by extreme compression
               against the car.

               Asphyxial  games  for  the   sake   of   alteration  of
               consciousness without the addition of sexuality are not
               at all uncommon. Researcher  Harvey  Resnick  refers to
               anthropological studies  of various native American and
               South American tribes who  play  such  games, variously
               entitled "smoke out", "red out", and "hang up". Indeed,
               after I started studying  AA, I  began asking  people I
               knew if  they could  recall playing  asphyxial games as
               children. Many did, and were surprised  that they could
               remember doing  such things. Perhaps this is an example
               of  "repression"  whereby  "antisocial"   behaviors  of
               children  are  forgotten  only to return with prompting
               very often, people not only recall asphyxial games, but
               remember the  exact sequence and number of actions they
               performed. These include hugging by another, blowing on
               a  finger  in  the  mouth to prevent exhalation, rising
               quickly from squatting position, pressing on  the neck,
               and many others.

               There is  an unusual subset of AA fatalities that prove
               very difficult for the  researcher  to  classify. These
               are cases  of erotic  suicide. In  these the victim was
               known  to  have  practiced  AA,  but  also  evidenced a
               suicidal intent.

               In  the   early  1970's  two  researchers,  Litman  and
               Swearingen, studied the sex practices of  a group  of 9
               S&M-AA practitioners.  Though none died while the study
               was  in  effect,  all  exhibited  strong  "death  wish"
               orientation,  and  often  strong  depression.  All  had
               complex esoteric fantasies, as in #7's  case. He wanted
               to  be   the  "leader   of  an   imperiled  group"  who
               "eroticized fear, nooses,  hanging"  and  needed danger
               for  orgasm.  The  deaths  of  any of these individuals
               would be  very difficult  to classify  in either pigeon
               hole of  "suicide" or  "accident" because all seemed to
               intentionally live on that border.

               The most extreme case presented by the authors was case
               "A",  a  50  year  old  actor  who  died  of  extremely
               eroticized AA. There was a  ball  in  his  mouth, scarf
               over his eyes, hand cuffs on both wrists, and the words
               "suck"  and  "fuck"  written  on  the  body.  A bizarre
               suicide note  was left  of which  this is  only a part:
               "Please tender  me  when  you  cut  me  down.  My panty
               girdles are fastened to my brassieres with safety pins.
               There are no hooks on the garter belts so you will have
               to pull them off". And finally: "In a frenzy of passion
               I kick the chair over and  my body  is spasming  at the
               end of  the chain  noose. I come wildly, madly. My eyes
               bulge and I try and  reach  the  keys,  knowing  I have
               finally found  the courage  to end a horrible nightmare
               life dangerously". End of note.

               Beside the obvious reason  that it  feels good,  why to
               people  engage  in  AA?  Various  long  winded  psycho-
               analytic explanations have proposed, all of  which rely
               on explanations which are as controversial as the whole
               body  of   psycho-analysis   itself.   A   very  clever
               hypothesis  has  been  proposed  by Resnick; it asserts
               that while  breast-feeding,  a  baby  may  experience a
               partial asphyxia. Further, certain gastric and urethral
               reflexes may, in males  produce erections.  Thus a very
               early  association  between  the pleasure involved with
               feeding, erection, and asphyxia is formed.  Later, when
               breast-feeding stops,  the association between asphyxia
               and  erections  may  persist.  Resnick  refers  to  the
               breastfeeding mother as the "smother mother".

               When individuals  practice AA,  to they  always have to
               die?  Is  there  "safe  sex"  AA?  Wearing  condoms and
               soaking  the  ligature  in  bleach  just  won't  do. An
               article from the gay  men's  magazine  Drummer suggests
               that there  is safe  AA. Author Robert Bahr interviewed
               "Ed", who rigged up  a gaff  in his  apartment designed
               specifically to prevent accidental death. Around a wire
               frame is wrapped a  plastic bag.  On the  floor beneath
               the  contraption  is  a  mattress.  One  stands  on the
               mattress  and  puts  his  face  into  the  frame. While
               masturbating, all  inhaled and  exhaled air collects in
               the bag and is quickly  depleted  of  oxygen.  The wire
               frame  prevents   the  bag   from  being  inhaled  when
               breathing becomes  rapid, near  orgasm. After orgasm,or
               if  the   participant  passes   out,  the  mattress  is
               underneath to cushion a fall. One cannot die in such an
               arrangement, because  one cannot get caught in the bag,
               and unconsciousness only  removes  one  from  the gaff.
               This practice does not produce ischemia, however, which
               may limit  its euphoric  potential for  the true thrill
               seeking AA connoisseur.

               As  exhortations  for  abstinence  have never prevented
               venereal disease, it is not likely that AA  deaths will
               go  away  just  by  saying  "Don't  do  it".  Only when
               practitioners understand why it is so dangerous and are
               offered  safer  alternatives  will  autoerotic asphyxia
               deaths decrease.