Suicide Methods - Suffocation

Suffocation

Suicide by suffocation is the act of inhibiting one's ability to breathe or limiting oxygen uptake while breathing, causing hypoxia and eventually asphyxia. This may involve an exit bag (a plastic bag fixed over the head) or confinement in an enclosed space without oxygen. These attempts involve using depressants to make the user pass out due to the oxygen deprivation before the instinctive panic and the urge to escape due to the hypercapnic alarm response. It is impossible for someone to commit suicide by simply holding their breath, as the level of oxygen in the blood becomes too low, the brain sends an involuntary reflex, and the person breathes in as the respiratory muscles contract. Even if one is able to overcome this response to the point of becoming unconscious, in this condition, it's no longer possible to control breathing, and a normal rhythm is reestablished.

Because of this, one is more likely to commit suicide by breathing toxic gases, instead of preventing breath. Helium, argon, nitrogen and carbon monoxide are commonly used in suicides by suffocation. Breathing inert gas quickly renders a person unconscious, and may cause death within minutes.