DoubleDutchy

Evelyn Waugh attempted to do this. He swam right into a swarm of stitching jellyfish however, fled back to the beach and lived on for some fifty other years. I am not sure whether this is off topic but I always thought of it as an edifying story.

Calzaer

Nope. Once oxygen levels in the brain reach critical levels, you lose conciousness. Humans are involountary breathers; once we're no longer trying NOT to breathe, we start breathing again. Thus, you pass out, and resume breathing.

A seal could do it, tho. Seals are volountary breathers, which means they have to think about it in order to breathe.

eh

Did this person not consider that this would be a rather painfull way of dying? It's like the woman who drank acid. I mean, there are certainly better ways to do yourself in. Anyway, got a link?

Mageth

Did this person not consider that this would be a rather painfull way of dying?

I believe Waugh accidentally swam into the jellyfish, and was not attempting suicide by Scyphozoa.

ex-xian

When I was in grade school, there was this really pretty older girl who rode my bus. She would do this trick where she would hold her breath until she passed out.

It was pretty cool.

The Lone Ranger

Quote:

Nope. Once oxygen levels in the brain reach critical levels, you lose conciousness. Humans are involountary breathers; once we're no longer trying NOT to breathe, we start breathing again. Thus, you pass out, and resume breathing.

Most people can't hold their breath long enough to pass out. One reason is because it's not low oxygen levels in the blood that trigger your breathing response, it's high carbon dioxide levels. If you try to hold your breath, when the CO2 level in your blood reaches a certain level, you involuntarily take a breath; this typically happens well before you pass out.

On the other hand, I've read claims that by "hyperventilating", some people can lower the CO2 levels in their blood enough that if they then begin to hold their breath, they'll pass out from low oxygen before CO2 levels build sufficiently to trigger the involuntary breathing response. Supposedly, it's dangerous to hyperventilate before trying to swim any distance underwater for that reason, because you may pass out while under the water.

Cheers,

Michael

HeatherD

From what I've read it really depends on the form of suffocation.

If one drowns, hypoxia sets in quite quickly. Apparently the breathing in of water isn't very pleasant but after that the lack of oxygen to the brain is not unpleasant.

On the other hand, suffocation is a confined space can be very unpleasant. The oxygen level decreases slowly while the carbon dioxide level reaches dangerous levels quickly. Carbon dioxide poisoning, from what I've read, is deadly and very unpleasant. A Google search might find more but this is a summary.

anecdote:
I was once working by myself in a small contained area as a teen, there was a leaking gas line in the room. I passed out due to lack of oxygen but awoke some (unknown) time later. I don't know why I came-to, the leak was apparently still there but I'm glad I did. I got out, shut off the line and drove to the emergency room where I needed a few stitches in my chin and a few dressings on my chest. I had fallen over something when I lost consciousness, that might be what brought me back.

ps418

Oh, we did something like this when I was a kid. You'd hyperventilate until you felt really light-headed, then you'd take in a deep breath and hold it, and then a friend would give you a big bear-hug from behind. At the moment you pass out, you'd automatically exhale. I'm certain we all killed many, many brain cells. Interestingly, we'd often be passed out for only 5-6 seconds, yet have vivid dreams during that time that seemed to last for a lot longer. I remember well a friend who woke up and said: "I dreamed I was really small, and someone put me in a glass bottle. Then someone started dropping cheerios in the bottle, trying to crush me, so I was running around the bottle avoiding the giant cheerios." Yep, I'm certain we killed many, many brain cells.

Patrick

SULPHUR

There several recorded cases where a person trying to kill themselves would simply walk into the water and continue swimming away from land until they were totally exhausted with no way back. A friend of mine did exactly that.

BioBeing

I've never tried this myself (honest!), but one does hear reports of "autoerotic asphixiation" - people essentially partially hanging themselves as part of some sex act, so I'd imagine if not pleasant, it at least gives some kind of a kick. Of course, the ones we tend to hear about are the ones who go just a litle too far...

I have also heard that, when people almost die by drowning, they get the whole white light near death experience thing, and it can be pleasant (once, I'm sure, the panicking has stopped). Somthing to do with oxygen depravation in the brain or something.

Don't try this at home, kids!