Choking FAQ

What is breath play?

Breath play is the consensual act of intentionally restricting oxygen to the brain during sexual activity.

Is breath play safe?

According to the American Academy of Neurology, restricting blood flow to the brain, even briefly, can cause permanent injury, including stroke and cognitive impairment. People have also died as a result of breath play. Breath play is strangulation but is often referred to as “choking.” The remainder of this FAQ will use the term “choking” as that is a commonly used term among students.

What are the risks of choking?

Potential symptoms include lightheadedness, headaches, neck pain, temporary loss of coordination and ear ringing. For many, symptoms seem to resolve. However, as with NFL players who are later diagnosed with CTE, the long-term effects of choking (cumulative effects of repeated episodes of oxygen deprivation) may not show up for days, weeks, or years.

CTE is a progressive degenerative disease affecting people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic brain injuries, that may occur in some athletes and others who have been exposed to concussions and repetitive head impacts. Most notably, CTE has been studied in retired NFL players, many of whom appeared to suffer from mental illness, may have become violent and/or suicidal, and had reduced life expectancy.

It seems like choking is expected. I don’t want to seem “vanilla.” Can I say “no”?

It can feel like “everyone” is doing “it.” But that is almost never the case. More importantly, even if your friends decided to engage in choking (or another activity), you can still decide that choking is not for you.

You get to decide for yourself what sexual behaviors you want to engage in. This is true whether someone wants to choke you, or your partner asks you to choke them or to engage in any other activity you don’t want to participate in. A sexual partner who cares about you will be committed to consensual sexual activity and respect your boundaries. If someone is unwilling to respect your boundaries, you are encouraged to consider whether this is someone with whom you wish to have a sexual relationship.

I want to engage in choking because I think it would be exciting. What should I do?

If you want to engage in choking, ask your partner for consent before you attempt it. And then respect your partner’s answer, even if the answer is “no.” If your partner agrees to engage in choking, it is imperative that you respect your partner’s boundaries. You are responsible for your actions, including if you go further than what your partner agreed to. Exceeding the scope of consent (what your partner agreed to do) while engaging in sexual activity is sexual assault.

What if someone choked me without my consent?

Choking a sexual partner without consent is a form of sexual assault. It is assault to initiate choking without consent, regardless of whether consent was given for other sexual activity. It is also assault for your partner to exceed your scope of consent.

Can I report if someone choked me but did not leave marks?

Very often, choking leaves no visible marks, at least not external marks. But that does not necessarily mean that you were not harmed or injured. Sometimes internal injuries to the neck occur as a result of choking. Sometimes, there are short or long-term cognitive or psychological injuries.

Are there medical studies on choking?

Yes. MRIs of undergraduate women who have been repeatedly choked show a reduction in cortical folding in the brain compared with the brains of a never-choked control group. Their brains also showed widespread cortical thickening, an inflammation response that is associated with elevated risk of later-onset mental illness. In completing simple memory tasks, the brains of these young women worked harder than the brains of undergraduate women who had never been choked. The brains of those who were choked also had to recruit from more regions of the brain to achieve the same level of functioning.

The hemispheres in the choked group’s brains were also badly skewed, with the right side hyperactive and the left underperforming. A similar imbalance is associated with mood disorders, and indeed surveys show that people who have been choked are more likely than others to have experienced overwhelming anxiety, as well as sadness and loneliness, with the effect more pronounced as the frequency of choking rose.

Women who experienced more than five instances of choking were two and a half times as likely as those who had never been choked to say they had been so depressed within the previous 30 days they couldn’t function.

In sum, there is medical evidence that choking can cause long-term consequences for those who are choked. There are no medical consequences for those who do the choking. And it is primarily females who experience choking by their male partners.

What should I do if I experienced choking and need help?

If you experience choking and need help, you have options. You are encouraged to seek medical care as soon as possible. There are also University resources that are available to you, including University Health Services, the confidential Care and Advocacy Program, and the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, which adjudicates allegations of sexual misconduct. Students also have the option to report to the University of Oregon Police Department. Supportive measures for students who experience sex- or gender-based violence are available, regardless of whether students choose to participate in a formal university process.