"'Choking Game' Awareness and Participation Among 8th Graders -- Oregon, 2008"
The survey suggests that as many as 2,600 eighth-graders in Oregon may have risked injury, long-term disability, or even death by a engaging in the “choking game,” an activity in which persons strangulate themselves to achieve euphoria through brief hypoxia.
Nearly 40 percent of eighth-graders said they had heard about the choking game, including about 30 percent who had heard of someone participating in it, about 3 percent who said they had helped someone engage in the game and about 6 percent who said they had participated themselves. The results indicate that teens in rural areas and those with increased mental health risk factors or involved in substance abuse were more likely to take part in the game.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the survey, the choking game led to 82 deaths in 31 states from 1995 to 2007. Data is derived from responses from nearly 8,000 eighth-graders at 114 schools in Oregon.
