Dicing with death for cheap thrill

April 14, 2008 12:00am

SCHOOL students are dicing with death by playing a bizarre and dangerous game in which they partially strangle themselves to get a "high".

Teenagers claim the Choking Game, in which they become semi-asphyxiated, enables them to achieve an hypoxia-induced euphoric state.

They are said to suffer a partial or complete loss of consciousness brought about by the intentional deprivation of oxygen to the brain for a short period.

Doctors yesterday warned families about the dangerous behaviour while child psychologists and academics said they feared Choking Game videos posted on the internet could entice teens or even younger children to experiment. One site attracted 83,000 hits.

The practice - also known as the "pass-out game", "space monkey" or "trip to heaven" - is believed to be responsible for the deaths of least 82 mostly male children in the US between 1995 and 2007.

Adolescents psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said the Choking Game was "incredibly dangerous".

"Children get bored, there is not much stimulation in their lives and they look for a cheap thrill," he said.

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http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23533014-5001021,00.html