Risky masturbation kills 80 to 100 Germans a year, claims a Brandenburg physician who is shining a light on the unpredictable and often clandestine killer.

Dr. Harald Voss estimates that one to two people per one million inhabitants are killed by risky masturbation techniques annually, all of them in search of an elevated experience that the vast majority already deem quite satisfactory.

Asphyxiation is cited as the most common form of masturbation death, says Voss, along with electric shock, however it’s difficult to get a truly accurate reading of just how many people have lost their lives this way... for a number of reasons.

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Relatives who find their loved ones in compromising positions as a result of their untimely death can sometimes remove evidence out of shame or embarrassment for the victim, the 59-year-old forensic physician explains.

“The number of unreported cases is extremely high, which is a very rare case in forensic medicine,” Voss told Bild, claiming to have personally seen only five cases throughout his more than 30 year career as a forensic physician.

Additionally, if police find the cause of death to be clearly accidental, where the victim is naked, pornographic material is present, no farewell letter is left behind, there’s a nearby mirror as well as other tell-tale signs, the body does not go to forensics.

The risks associated with ‘breath play’ are underestimated, warns Voss, as slipping into unconsciousness happens faster than people think: “If, for example, both carotid arteries are squeezed, it takes a maximum of 30 seconds.”

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Risky masturbation appears to be favored by people of all ages, but most victims are men, says Voss, because women tend to “be more cautious” when it comes to autoerotic practices.

While it’s hard for some to comprehend, Voss says the feeling of powerlessness and enhanced sense of danger are some of the reasons people risk embarrassment, injury and at times death for the euphoria which has been equated to a drug-induced high.

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