Dry blackout

[blueface]

A friend of mine performed a "Mexican sleep over" as they call it. The "victim" squats on the floor and begins to hyperventilate for a short time. After a while he stands up abruptly and his chest is compressed by two or three other people until the victim passes out. It fails on the first victim but works on the second. He is a new freediver. I feel a bit upset about this kind of "fooling around" because I take BO very seriously and I let him know that I think it's foolish. If you watch the video it is clear that they almost allowed him to hit the floor!

He seems to think it's very funny. I am not laughing.

Am I over reacting?

 

[trux]

Am I over reacting?

No, you are not. If you enter terms like "hyperventilation games" or "fainting games" into Google, you find plenty of articles and also some very grim statistics. These stupid games are responsible for numerous deaths among children and teen each year.

This Wiki article will pop up as first, but there are plenty of others, including some very sad stories:

Fainting game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Besides the asphyxaion deaths, there are also many injuries and even deaths caused by the uncontrolled falls.

 

[blueface]

Thanks trux! I had little prior knowledge about this stupid form of amusement. I let him know that he should quit while he's ahead.

 

[trux]

BTW, I am not sure whether I remember it correctly (it is a few years I researched the topic), but I have the feeling that the deaths caused by hyperventilation games were reported to be on the first place when speaking about mortality of children in some of the surveyed countries (not sure whether it was the UK, or the USA). Well, probably not true (I guess car accidents or drugs must be first), but it seems to be a serious and underreported problem anyway.

 

[W0wbagger]

Quick question kind of in addition to this - currently I'm practising dry apnea while lying down on the bed. Obviously it's not the most hardcore of activities but are there any short or long term risks associated with blacking out while doing this? I'm sure it's not ideal and i've heard nasty sounding stories of loss of bladder control etc but at the moment I feel I'm still finding my limit (no tunnel vision or contractions yet) but don't want to push it too far if it's risky.

(PB is 5:03)

 

[azapa]

no contractions yet? sure? lift your shirt and watch your diaphragm.

In any case it is quite safe IMHO. I can believe loss of bladder control but it is not a very well documented thing. I know of some badly blacked out freedivers who, pardon the term, pooped themselves.

Like anything extreme or stressful in life though, don't go over the top on any training. One session per day max and not for more than a couple of weeks in a row.

 

[W0wbagger]

well i have the need to swallow that kind of thing but Ive seen videos of some seriously big stomach movements which ive not had but tbh yeah I probably just don't know what i'm on about!

Thanks for the heads up - looks like as long as I make sure I go to the loo first I shouldnt run too much a risk of embarassment

 

[project1.00]

:duh:duh:blackeye

 

[JennyWren]

Man, I remember making myself pass out that way as a kid (well I didn't have someone else to squeeze me, just kinda beared down after standing up). Thought it was cool (that feeling you get when you are waking back up is neat) until I WHACKED my head one time on the way down. After that I didn't want to do it anymore.

 

[blueface]

I told him and his friends to stop doing it and warned them that they could get into big trouble. I was not very nice about it either. I don't think they will be playing this game anymore.

 

[Kars]

Blueface it's always challenging to tell someone they should not do something in nice supportive way, I hope you succeed without shooting yourself in the foot since many people consider freediving a sport that is "flirting with death". <Thanks to the movies and media, and a few that did not consider safety very much>

I wonder How the mechanism of that foolish game actually works. Because in junior school I tried a few times but it did not "work" for me.

 

[blueface]

Kars, thanks for posting! The mechanism of the game is explained well in the link that trux posted. It's like a hypocapnic BO. It makes me wonder if it is possible for the Bohr curve to shift to the left so far that death occurs before O2 is released. The affinity for O2 might be so great that tissue dies and the victim never wakes up. Most deaths seem to be related to the kids using a ligature, belt, line, rope,etc. but can death occur without? trux?

 

[trux]

I do not know for sure, but really do not think it can be that extreme. However, death can occure even without using ligature - for example by choking on owns tongue, and often the blackout is accompanied with a fall, where serious injuries, including death after hitting the head hard, are documented.

 

[blueface]

Thanks trux. It makes me worry a bit because I pracitice dry statics (O2 tables) on my back sometimes increasing the time very gradually. I don't push it.

 

[Erki]

The mechanism of this kind of BO is similar to packing BO. You have vasoconstriction caused by low pCO2 and then something should additionally impede bloodflow to the brain.
Deaths could result from the arrhythmias caused by BO.

 

[blueface]

The mechanism of this kind of BO is similar to backing BO. You have vasoconstriction caused by low pCO2 and then something should additionally impede bloodflow to the brain.
Deaths could result from the arrhythmias caused by BO.

Yes, I have read that the vasoconstriction can occur in the vessels leading to the brain. Thanks for the input.

Did you mean "packing BO?"

Skip

 

[slingshaft]

~~ :waterwork God I hate horseplay. Why is youth wasted on the young? :duh