That predates the internet by a fair margin.
It was one of the early internet challenges. It was just renamed and popularized again in 2021.
I remember this becoming a thing at my jr high school in the late 80’s in rural NV, well before there was any internet access in the town at all… this is nothing new.
This was a thing when I was in elementary school which would have been the very early 90s. This creepy redneck kid told me about and said it was “like a magic trick”. When I asked how it worked he pushed me against a wall and started strangling me, until I punched him in the eye lol
Isn’t this just auto-erotic asphyxiation… but done by kids?
Also, I’m glad I don’t TikTok. I’m insulated from this stupidity, lol.
In the linked article, they say that this is distinct from erotic asphyxiation:
Reasons for practice are distinct from erotic asphyxiation. Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners in London,[4] claims that the fainting game is pursued primarily by children and teens “to get a high without taking drugs.” Children “aren’t playing this game for sexual gratification.” It is frequently confused with erotic asphyxiation, which is oxygen deprivation for sexual arousal. Unlike erotic asphyxiation, practice of the fainting game appears to be uncommon in adulthood.[5]
More info here.
Claimed the life of X JAPAN’s singer back in the 80/90s
