Just out of curiosity, I read an article recently about people committing suicide that way, especially inmates possibly because they dont have another choice. I’m curious, how is this even possible? Wouldn’t their survival instincts kick in and make them get up and untie themselves? I thought people hang themselves (from the ceiling) because they get strangled with no way to go back. When sitting or lying they can always get up when they begin to suffocate so how is this possible?
You can pass out pretty quickly if the blood flow is cut off. You can let yourself go to that point, as deaths by erotic asphyxiation indicate. Then you die by continued lack of blood flow and oxygen.
A lifetime ago I was an EMT, and one of our patients had successfully killed himself by hanging. He hanged himself with a belt, in a bathtub, from a rack fixture about 5 feet off the floor. The heels of his feet were on the solid floor of the tub, toes pointed up.
My theory is the slope of the back part of the tub caused him to slip, putting a major jerking force against his head. This theory was supported by the fact that the rack fixture was warped from the weight, and his neck was broken. All of this was accomplished with body weight alone, from no higher than where he could have easily just stood flat footed on the floor.
Interesting, that makes sense it does sound like he had a way back even if he had a change of heart. I wonder how they do this without slipping in the bath tub they must have lots of will power
Once you lose consciousness, it’s all downhill from that point on. You can’t get more oxygen unless you do something to put your body in a better position, and as long as you’re unconscious, your body isn’t going to move. So then it’s only a matter of time, a few minutes, until you’re dead.
And you can lose consciousness in a much shorter time than you can react; people with syncope issues can pass out before realizing that they passed out. You don’t always have warning. So someone who was only playfully choking himself or herself off with a rope to see what it feels like, or erotic asphyxiation as mentioned, could find that playful “game” turning deadly far, far more rapidly than they’d thought.
Interesting, that makes sense it doesnt sound like he had a way back even if he had a change of heart. I wonder how they do this without slipping in the bath tub they must have lots of will power
Sorry for the double post I meant to edit the first one
I know that the body will flail and thrash around even unconscious in an attempt to get air. I guess it isn’t that smart to think “stand up”
Standing up, when one is in a lying or half-lying position, requires far more deliberate balance and coordination than merely thrashing about. It has to be a conscious act (or, well, there’s sleepwalking but that doesn’t count in this situation.)
Makes sense, now I get it