Autoerotic fatalities are deaths caused by unusual and risky introverted sexual practices such as self-bondage and autoerotic asphyxia. However, occasionally more strange forms of autoerotic death also occur.
The most common causes of death in autoerotic fatalities are strangulation and hanging, but autoerotic deaths have also resulted from other methods, including electrocution, sepsis after rupture of colon (from insertion of foreign bodies in the rectum), crushing injuries, and accidental self-impalement. Autoeroticism is an extreme form of masturbation in which asphyxiating or choking is the pursuit of the physiological effects connected with decreased oxygen (blood) supply to the brain.
Strangulation (which interferes with blood supply to the brain) is almost certainly more perilous than suffocation (cutting off air flow to the lungs by covering the nose and mouth). But both can be lethal. When the oxygen in the body drops, all these forms of behavior have a bigger possibility of affecting the heart by altering the rate, rhythm and contraction. Heart attacks are not unheard of after autoerotic activities.
The name of the game is to decrease blood flow to the brain, which is purported to intensify the sexual gratification. It is an exceedingly dangerous practice that results in many deaths each year.
The ultimate aim of this practice is to obtain sexual nirvana and ecstasy, and most people who practice this death-defying sexual feat are well aware of the risks involved and the likelihood of loss of consciousness - but they all believe that they are immune from death. From the cases studied, it appears that most individuals are vigilant and set up some form of a safety device which will prevent accidental death. Unfortunately, sometimes these safety devices do not always work and death is the inevitable result.
Upon questioning individuals who practice this hazardous sexual practice, it is evident that autoeroticism is not meant to be a form of suicide. It is legitimately done to obtain a sexual thrill and live through it to do it again. The deaths of these individuals are a complete shock to family and friends who vouch that the individual had no suicidal tendencies.
Ironically, all cases of autoerotic deaths have been reported in males. Not a single case of a female who practices such behavior has ever been reported.