Forensic specialist looks at autopsy and says what drowning feels like (my method)

[HermitLonerGuy]

"According to forensic reports, adrenaline levels are an indicator of physical and emotional distress. For drowning victims, the adrenaline levels are at the same level as they would be if we were sleeping. Although there may be momentary distress and panic when someone realizes that he or she is in trouble in the water, evidently this is quickly replaced by a feeling of "euphoria" and "peace," according to pathologists and near drowning survivors. Loss of consciousness comes quickly and the transition into the death state is more than likely similar to falling asleep."

"It takes less than 30-seconds for someone to drown. But panic is quickly replaced by what has been described as an amazing sense of peace and calm.


Dr. Bucklin then contrasted these findings with victims who have been murdered, or died in other sudden and unexpected ways. Their adrenaline levels are much, much higher, meaning that there was measurable distress and little to ease it before the death transition took effect…"

Bill came up to me several years ago during one of the NASAR conferences where I had been doing a presentation about the need to provide immediate crisis intervention support to surviving family members in the aftermath of drowning accidents, and he told me a harrowing story about how he nearly drowned off the coast of Maryland in the Atlantic Ocean.


The thing Bill felt compelled to stress was the "awesome, overwhelming, total sense of peace and calm" that overcame him before he lost consciousness.

What Happens When Someone Drowns?

What Happens When Someone Drowns? By Nancy J. Rigg June 9, 2007 Many families have asked me what happens when someone drowns. There are clinical definitions, of course, but what most surviving fami…

drowningsupportnetwork.wordpress.com

 

[jodes2]

Very informative and surprising! I can't get my head round the idea that drowning is peaceful. I'm sure I'd panic like crazy at some point so the calm afterwards is kinda irrelevant for me but it's interesting to know

 

[HermitLonerGuy]

here another study from the legit medical journal website NCBI

The experience of drowning

Internationally, drowning is a leading cause of accidental death that features in many legal cases. In these cases, possible mitigations and the ‘pain and suffering’ in terms of the duration and subjective experience of drowning are often ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

5	I felt at peace.
7	Struggling followed by feeling 'damn pleasant'.
9	It hurts so badly, then dizzy then calm. Hallucinate.
10	I give in to the lack of oxygen, going limp and at this moment there's no pain or fear. It's just simple and peaceful.
14	I just started breathing. It was quite peaceful not painful. I mean I started thinking, well at least I know that I will die peacefully.
16	I finally inhaled (water). All the tension in my chest instantly cleared and it felt almost as if I were breathing in air. I was cold which was alarming considering the water was warm, but I didn't exactly care. My whole body had gone lax and I let my eyes slip shut. It felt just like falling asleep.
26	I realized that no one could save me and I began to just relax. I couldn't move, didn't want to move. I thought to myself wow this is a stupid way to die. I wonder what happens next. And it's like the moment I calmed down I couldn't feel anything. It felt like meditation.
29	Immediately (after inhaling water) you will feel very relaxed and peaceful for a moment or two, also with no fear, until everything goes black and you pass out.
34	It burned at first, but since the water was cold, it soothed me.
	Non-aspiration group
4	My lungs had more or less given out, and there was no pain, just comfort.
5	I felt at peace and knowing that I was gonna die, I wasn't afraid.
13	Just a second or two later the 'panic' feeling left me. The next thing I knew I was looking at a moving wall of beautiful colours; sea shells, sea fish, quiet, beautiful as my body slowly drifted down, down, down. No panic, no pain, no regrets, worries etc., the most pleasant experience I've ever had.
19	That peaceful feeling is all part of the euphoria most people feel before death. If you die drowning, I would say it's one of the more peaceful ways to go. After the worst 15 seconds of your life of course.
25	It was more of a numb feeling than anything. Kind of distant, like I was watching everything unfold from a different perspective, like it wasn't really me that was experiencing everything. I think my mind was too dulled by panic and fear and exhaustion to really notice any pain at all.
31	All I can remember was it seems like I was looking through a kaleidoscope of pretty colours. I would've disappeared into oblivion peacefully and painlessly.

 

[Someone123]

From seeing interviews with people who nearly drowned it is extremely terrifying and it can go on for quite a while, depending on the fitness level and swimming ability of the swimmer; when you finally drown who knows, it still seems pretty terrifying to me- there are many less stressful methods it seems to me.

 

[Amccorm2]

I have heard rumours that people have hallucinations when using this method. I can't vouch for how true that is though.

 

[makethepainstop]

Well there is the resultant mental state of drowning! If it stills sounds like a good method to you then by all means........

 

[regal20]

Simply death from hypoxia but preceded by unpleasantness. Better to choose an exit bag or something similar.

 

[conflagration]

I was drowning when I was a kid, it is exactly as described, after some distress I felt amazing peace and quietness.

 

[freedomcalls]

As it approaches the 3rd year of a suicide anniversary near to my heart, that was achieved by drowning, this is very reassuring

I'd love to choose this as my method, but having witnessed first hand the anguish of the 7 weeks it took to retrieve the body of my friend, I can't in all conscience seriously consider it

 

[Venus13]

Interesting information, thanks.

 

[whatevs]

I still can't believe this but sounds very credible. Hard science. Will 100% continue to absolutely abhor drowning, though.

 

[FuneralCry]

I've always thought drowning as being an awful and difficult method to go through with, but that doesn't sound all that bad. It would be ideal for me to feel calm in my last moments, comforted by the knowledge that this is all finally coming to an end. I guess all that someone has to do is overcome the survival instinct and then they can finally be free from all suffering.

 

[niiina]

It's way more peaceful than what I expected, I'd never have the nerve to go this deep in the sea or whatever to drown tho, people who ctb with this method are very brave and determined.

 

[SamTam33]

I've read many detailed accounts of near drowning and several people describe seeing different colors.

One guy said as he was sinking towards the bottom he got mad because he hadn't done a particular task that day. It's amazing how you can still have cognizant thoughts in that moment.

Drowning is ultimately my preferred method as well. It makes sense when you think about how we were submerged in water before being born. I'm going to return to where I came from.

What's a few minutes of panic and distress compared to the perpetual panic distress and I feel on a daily basis?

We can endure years of physical and mental pain while being alive, but are afraid to experience 2 minutes of it in order to die?

 

[BipolarExpress]

We can endure years of physical and mental pain while being alive, but are afraid to experience 2 minutes of it in order to die?

We've evolved to keep ourselves alive, so our brain leads us towards struggling to maintain our existence rather than allowing ourselves to die. If you're suicidal, it's a hindrance.

 

[SamTam33]

We've evolved to keep ourselves alive, so our brain leads us towards struggling to maintain our existence rather than allowing ourselves to die. If you're suicidal, it's a hindrance.

I understand SI; unfortunately it's built in.

But when talking about different methods, people cite the avoidance of discomfort or wanting to go in peace as a top priority.

I think that's something different from the naturally occurring survival instincts.

It's like suffering from starvation, but only wanting to accept Vegan options for meals. Are you hungry or not?

 

[hopeless302]

Interestingly, this is something I have some experience with. I almost drowned when I was about 13. My friend and I went tubing alone down some rapids in a narrow part of the river. The currents were way too powerful that day, however, and I got tossed into the water without my tube. I tumbled down the river for some time, being battered by rocks all the while. Water got in my lungs but I tried choking it out and gasping for breath and stuff every time my head became un-submerged. Best way I could describe it is like being in a giant washing machine with a bunch of boulders in it.

I remember feeling different parts of my body smashing into rocks and praying that my head wouldn't hit anything. I'd say this went on for like a minute and a half (though my friend claimed it was much longer) until I felt like I was about to pass out. At that point, I remember resigning myself to my fate and feeling oddly calm. Like all the panic and fear from before had vanished. I even remember feeling slightly surprised by this. Seconds after I started feeling that way, I smashed into a giant rock in the middle of the river... I could literally feel water shoot out my nose when my back collided with the rock. I was then able to crawl on top of it where I stayed vomiting and crying for a couple of minutes. The rock broke the currents just enough that that the river was more tranquil in that area. With some motivation from my friend who had been screaming at me from the shore, I was able to swim myself to land.

In terms of the aftermath, I was sore and covered in bruises, though I was able to hide them from my parents by wearing long clothes. I had a slight limp which I claimed was from a bike accident. I had cut the skin on my palms from trying to grasp on to rocks and loose tree branches as I tumbled down. Also developed a really bad cold (probably from the water in my lungs) and had recurring nightmares about the event which continue to this day. Needless to say, about a week or so later, my friend and I were back on the b.s tubing down the same rapids and continued to do so for years after. I didn't come close to dying the other times I did it, unfortunately.

Tldr; yeah I felt resigned to my fate and this sent a weird sense of tranquility washing over me. However, the process of getting to that point was pretty awful.

Note: This is by no means reflective of everyone else's drowning experience. Some might be better or worse than I described

 

[HermitLonerGuy]

Interestingly, this is something I have some experience with. I almost drowned when I was about 13. My friend and I went tubing alone down some rapids in a narrow part of the river. The currents were way too powerful that day, however, and I got tossed into the water without my tube. I tumbled down the river for some time, being battered by rocks all the while. Water got in my lungs but I tried choking it out and gasping for breath and stuff every time my head became un-submerged. Best way I could describe it is like being in a giant washing machine with a bunch of boulders in it.

I remember feeling different parts of my body smashing into rocks and praying that my head wouldn't hit anything. I'd say this went on for like a minute and a half (though my friend claimed it was much longer) until I felt like I was about to pass out. At that point, I remember resigning myself to my fate and feeling oddly calm. Like all the panic and fear from before had vanished. I even remember feeling slightly surprised by this. Seconds after I started feeling that way, I smashed into a giant rock in the middle of the river... I could literally feel water shoot out my nose when my back collided with the rock. I was then able to crawl on top of it where I stayed vomiting and crying for a couple of minutes. The rock broke the currents just enough that that the river was more tranquil in that area. With some motivation from my friend who had been screaming at me from the shore, I was able to swim myself to land.

In terms of the aftermath, I was sore and covered in bruises, though I was able to hide them from my parents by wearing long clothes. I had a slight limp which I claimed was from a bike accident. I had cut the skin on my palms from trying to grasp on to rocks and loose tree branches as I tumbled down. Also developed a really bad cold (probably from the water in my lungs) and had recurring nightmares about the event which continue to this day. Needless to say, about a week or so later, my friend and I were back on the b.s tubing down the same rapids and continued to do so for years after. I didn't come close to dying the other times I did it, unfortunately.

Tldr; yeah I felt resigned to my fate and this sent a weird sense of tranquility washing over me. However, the process of getting to that point was pretty awful.

Note: This is by no means reflective of everyone else's drowning experience. Some might be better or worse than I described

Yeah it seems once you accept you will die and let go of struggling to breath then things get calm, strongly considering drowning.

 

[marcy2022]

I wonder if drowning and feeling of asphyxiation/suffocation is almost similar or does water getting in the lungs plays a huge role there?

I was thinking about vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes a person (used in surgeries and lethal injections). It also makes it so one can't breath as the diaphragm stops working. In hospitals they use vertilation when vecuronium bromide or similar drugs are used. I'm considering vecuronium bromide as my method (haven't decided yet). Cuz its supposed to do the job within 10 minutes or less. It paralyzes the body so I'm guessing even in panic or for whatever reason when "fight or flight" or SI activates, muscles just won't work and therefore ctb should be imminent unless found or something goes horribly wrong.
Few things I still don't know is whether suffocation and drowning is almost the same in terms of how it feels? Would it help to take vecuronium bromide injection in a bathtub to make it less unpleasant. I would normally consider bathtub as a bad option cuz of SI and later waking up next to the bathtub. However with vecuronium resulting in paralysis could be the thing that helps overcome SI (or in other words supress SI). Or maybe with just vecuronium bromide by itself as it disables breathing. Coming back to the question, drowning or suffication how similar or different are the feelings associated with them?

 

[HermitLonerGuy]

I wonder if drowning and feeling of asphyxiation/suffocation is almost similar or does water getting in the lungs plays a huge role there?

I was thinking about vecuronium bromide, which paralyzes a person (used in surgeries and lethal injections). It also makes it so one can't breath as the diaphragm stops working. In hospitals they use vertilation when vecuronium bromide or similar drugs are used. I'm considering vecuronium bromide as my method (haven't decided yet). Cuz its supposed to do the job within 10 minutes or less. It paralyzes the body so I'm guessing even in panic or for whatever reason when "fight or flight" or SI activates, muscles just won't work and therefore ctb should be imminent unless found or something goes horribly wrong.
Few things I still don't know is whether suffocation and drowning is almost the same in terms of how it feels? Would it help to take vecuronium bromide injection in a bathtub to make it less unpleasant. I would normally consider bathtub as a bad option cuz of SI and later waking up next to the bathtub. However with vecuronium resulting in paralysis could be the thing that helps overcome SI (or in other words supress SI). Or maybe with just vecuronium bromide by itself as it disables breathing. Coming back to the question, drowning or suffication how similar or different are the feelings associated with them?

interesting but how would you get ahold of bromide?

 

[marcy2022]

interesting but how would you get ahold of bromide?

I already have 60mg of it. Just trying to figure out if it would be similar to drowning or idk cuz some people says it would be horrible and I understand the fear of unknown or asphyxia just by itself may not sound nice. But it works and should be fast. The question is whether its pain or panic? and is it really peaceful or horrible? Does water makes a huge difference when comparing drowning and suffocation?

 

[GasMonkey]

I have had water in my lungs which I accidentally "inhaled" while using a front snorkel and it was the most horrible shit ever, coughing and gasping for air for air like crazy.

 

[Timetoleave1]

Interesting informations. Thank you.

 

[YuckyDucky]

Maybe, like many things, "your results may vary." I nearly drowned accidentally as a teen, to the point that I lost consciousness and absolutely 100% would have died if I wasn't saved. I had of course experienced fear in my life but hadn't felt anything I would describe as terror before that or since. But again, your results may vary.

 

[Timetoleave1]

Then again drowning is different than self-drowning.
Self-drowning is not common, but it is very lethal so people who really want to die and choose this method have a high success rate.

Suicide by drowning uncommon but does happen, investigators say

Drowning isn't the most used method for suicide, but it does happen, according to investigators

www.ajc.com

 

[Timetoleave1]

Self-drowning.

Student who was struggling with his degree killed himself by jumping off the pier

A UNIVERSITY student who was struggling with his degree killed himself by jumping off the pier, an inquest heard.

www.theargus.co.uk

 

[TimetoGo!]

Self-drowning.

Student who was struggling with his degree killed himself by jumping off the pier

A UNIVERSITY student who was struggling with his degree killed himself by jumping off the pier, an inquest heard.

www.theargus.co.uk

It is interesting that they did'nt mention any weight on him, so maybe he could'nt swim and drowned that way. Very brave guy.

this will be my method soon, but I plan on using weights so no chance of SI saving me.

here another study from the legit medical journal website NCBI

The experience of drowning

Internationally, drowning is a leading cause of accidental death that features in many legal cases. In these cases, possible mitigations and the ‘pain and suffering’ in terms of the duration and subjective experience of drowning are often ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

5	I felt at peace.
7	Struggling followed by feeling 'damn pleasant'.
9	It hurts so badly, then dizzy then calm. Hallucinate.
10	I give in to the lack of oxygen, going limp and at this moment there's no pain or fear. It's just simple and peaceful.
14	I just started breathing. It was quite peaceful not painful. I mean I started thinking, well at least I know that I will die peacefully.
16	I finally inhaled (water). All the tension in my chest instantly cleared and it felt almost as if I were breathing in air. I was cold which was alarming considering the water was warm, but I didn't exactly care. My whole body had gone lax and I let my eyes slip shut. It felt just like falling asleep.
26	I realized that no one could save me and I began to just relax. I couldn't move, didn't want to move. I thought to myself wow this is a stupid way to die. I wonder what happens next. And it's like the moment I calmed down I couldn't feel anything. It felt like meditation.
29	Immediately (after inhaling water) you will feel very relaxed and peaceful for a moment or two, also with no fear, until everything goes black and you pass out.
34	It burned at first, but since the water was cold, it soothed me.
	Non-aspiration group
4	My lungs had more or less given out, and there was no pain, just comfort.
5	I felt at peace and knowing that I was gonna die, I wasn't afraid.
13	Just a second or two later the 'panic' feeling left me. The next thing I knew I was looking at a moving wall of beautiful colours; sea shells, sea fish, quiet, beautiful as my body slowly drifted down, down, down. No panic, no pain, no regrets, worries etc., the most pleasant experience I've ever had.
19	That peaceful feeling is all part of the euphoria most people feel before death. If you die drowning, I would say it's one of the more peaceful ways to go. After the worst 15 seconds of your life of course.
25	It was more of a numb feeling than anything. Kind of distant, like I was watching everything unfold from a different perspective, like it wasn't really me that was experiencing everything. I think my mind was too dulled by panic and fear and exhaustion to really notice any pain at all.
31	All I can remember was it seems like I was looking through a kaleidoscope of pretty colours. I would've disappeared into oblivion peacefully and painlessly.

thank you for this.......an inspiring read and makes me even more determined with this method

It is interesting that they did'nt mention any weight on him, so maybe he could'nt swim and drowned that way. Very brave guy.

this will be my method soon, but I plan on using weights so no chance of SI saving me.

thank you for this.......an inspiring read and makes me even more determined with this method

It does worry me that someone survived after being submerged for 27 minutes though

 

[HermitLonerGuy]

It is interesting that they did'nt mention any weight on him, so maybe he could'nt swim and drowned that way. Very brave guy.

this will be my method soon, but I plan on using weights so no chance of SI saving me.

thank you for this.......an inspiring read and makes me even more determined with this method

It does worry me that someone survived after being submerged for 27 minutes though

That guy was in the water for 45 minutes and was under cardiac arrest for 90.

 

[Timetoleave1]

It is interesting that they did'nt mention any weight on him, so maybe he could'nt swim and drowned that way. Very brave guy.

this will be my method soon, but I plan on using weights so no chance of SI saving me.

thank you for this.......an inspiring read and makes me even more determined with this method

It does worry me that someone survived after being submerged for 27 minutes though

He was not using weight and probably did not need to. I guess he had planned his action and jumped with hesitation.
It was his time to die. When he started to drown, he went into cardiac arrest in no time.

 

[Tricondyla ledouxi]

The so called peaceful reports are of NEAR DEATH DROWNING. They did not actually DROWN. Loss of oxygen for long enough that you are actually drowning will not be peaceful! It is excruciatingly painful. Your blood vessels will explode and ear drums will pop. I really don't encourage you to try this.