public service announcement

[AgentApathy]

Hello all. I've lurked here for a long time, but I never felt like I had much to say, so I just registered.

Last weekend, 2 days before Christmas, my friends and I found out that one of our dear friends was found dead in his home by his father. He died due to autoerotic asphyxia, also known as scarfing. For those who don't know, this involves cutting off oxygen flow to the brain via strangulation during masturbation (or during sex, just leave out the "auto" part) for the purpose of achieving a heightened orgasm. Sometimes the rescue or escape mechanism fails, and the person dies.

This might be something you've heard about but think it just happens to celebrities (think Michael Hutchence of INXS). It happens to a LOT more people than many realize, but everyone hushes it up, keeps it a secret. This time it happened to one of my friends.

It's a very, very dangerous practice, and from my research, I've discovered that every time someone does it and manages to come back from it, they've suffered a little brain damage, however slight, from the oxygen deprivation, so even if you don't die completely, you're still harming yourself.

In short, it's not worth it. Please think twice, three times, maybe even four? before you do this or try it. My friend was an only child, 10 days shy of his 40th birthday. He was a very, very talented teacher and an even better friend, and he will be sorely missed. The worst part is for his parents, who only had one child, and his father will likely be haunted for the rest of his life by the image of finding his only son in such a state.