Plastic bag?

[Leopard2023]

Is it possible to die by putting a plastic bag over your head, then going to sleep?

 

[jonward55]

Is it possible to die by putting a plastic bag over your head, then going to sleep?

Unfortunately, simply try it. You will fail. SI will take over. Sorry

 

[alterationitfinds]

tried and tested, you can fall asleep yes, but you will wake up some time later completely fine, you could tape the bag around you but the feeling of suffocation is enough to make even the most suicidal rip the bag off in a hurry. if you want to go out via asphyxiation, i would go down the partial hanging route

 

[Dying Knight]

you could tape the bag around you but the feeling of suffocation is enough to make even the most suicidal rip the bag off in a hurry.

There are known suicides committed using this method, so it's actually working.

 

[alterationitfinds]

yes but with inert gas, OP only stated just a plastic bag and nothing else, which isn't a good idea

 

[puffnstuff]

You would probably need heavy sedation

 

[Dying Knight]

yes but with inert gas, OP only stated just a plastic bag and nothing else

I meant cases without using inert gas. Inert gas is not needed if you have a strong will to die and a non-zero endurance to temporary suffering.

 

[alterationitfinds]

SI goes beyond a "strong will to die" and it's more about instincts that cannot be overcome. so many people on this site have a strong will to die but your bodies mechanisms cannot agree with you. i guarantee most would definitely fail in the first 5-10 minutes of having a bag over their head because the survival instincts kick to such an extent that you simply have no choice other than to take the bag away. i'm sure if it was down to just will, 90% of the users on this site would have already passed

 

[Alexandra0]

Only if you tie the package tightly, then there can be no question of any dream

 

[MatthieuFrederickW]

There are known suicides committed using this method, so it's actually working.

Wish I could accomplish this without SI and panic making me rip the bag off. I don't get how people do this without taking anything

 

[Dying Knight]

Aggressiveness is a strong factor that suppresses panic very effectively.

 

[MatthieuFrederickW]

Aggressiveness is a strong factor that suppresses panic very effectively.

Should I be able to practice holding my breath every day to learn to overcome the hypercapnic alarm response?

 

[hunterfla]

I think the only way to have a chance at this working without inert gas (at least for 99.9% of people) would be to:

a) take sedatives
b) use industrial strength bag that won't rip or tear
c) duct tape bag securely around head/neck
d) handcuff hands behind the back (real handcuffs not toy ones)
e) discard or disable any voice activated electronics such as siri and alexa that could be used to call for help

Just my opinion, though. ;)

 

[Dying Knight]

Should I be able to practice holding my breath every day to learn to overcome the hypercapnic alarm response?

I think, it's not worth doing. If you want to reduce you sufferings to a bare minimum, it would be better to just use an asphyxiant gas. For example, you can fill a 30 - 50 litre bag with propane/butane, hold your breath, quickly put it over the head, seal the neck, then resume breathing. Passing out should happen in a few seconds with no symptoms of hypercapnia.

400 - 500ml propane/butane balloons are relatively cheap and easy to obtain. Inert/semi-inert gases are just more preferable because they don't smell, but they are not strongly needed unless you're a perfectionist. By the way, if I were a perfectionist, I would rather try to obtain nitrous oxide instead of inert gas, because it would make the procedure even more pleasant.

Alternatively, it's possible to use propane/butane for easy shallow-water blackout. Inhaling the gas before drowning may reduce the amount of time needed for passing out to a few seconds.

 

[snowcloud9]

You can do plastic bag + chemical reaction, someone did citric acid and baking soda

Suicide by plastic bag suffocation combined with the mixture of citric acid and baking soda in an adolescent - PubMed

We describe a case of suicidal asphyxiation using a plastic bag combined with carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas. A 20-year-old male, whose head was covered with a plastic bag, was found dead in his room. In the plastic bag, there were two glass-made cups containing liquid-like substance...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[MatthieuFrederickW]

I think, it's not worth doing. If you want to reduce you sufferings to a bare minimum, it would be better to just use an asphyxiant gas. For example, you can fill a 30 - 50 litre bag with propane/butane, hold your breath, quickly put it over the head, seal the neck, then resume breathing. Passing out should happen in a few seconds with no symptoms of hypercapnia.

400 - 500ml propane/butane balloons are relatively cheap and easy to obtain. Inert/semi-inert gases are just more preferable because they don't smell, but they are not strongly needed unless you're a perfectionist. By the way, if I were a perfectionist, I would rather try to obtain nitrous oxide instead of inert gas, because it would make the procedure even more pleasant.

Alternatively, it's possible to use propane/butane for easy shallow-water blackout. Inhaling the gas before drowning may reduce the amount of time needed for passing out to a few seconds.

Okay, got it. Thank you so much for the elaborate response to this one and other questions, it's much appreciated. I've Bookmarked your response for future reference.

 

[xxpinkmoonglitterxx]

You can do plastic bag + chemical reaction, someone did citric acid and baking soda

Suicide by plastic bag suffocation combined with the mixture of citric acid and baking soda in an adolescent - PubMed

We describe a case of suicidal asphyxiation using a plastic bag combined with carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas. A 20-year-old male, whose head was covered with a plastic bag, was found dead in his room. In the plastic bag, there were two glass-made cups containing liquid-like substance...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I've tried googling this type of suicide but can't find anything on how to do it or how it would work. Do you have any advice by chance?

 

[snowcloud9]

I've tried googling this type of suicide but can't find anything on how to do it or how it would work. Do you have any advice by chance?

Basically it's an exit bag but for people who can't do as much preparation. It induces asphyxiation because the citric acid + baking soda makes CO2, and breathing in so much CO2 at once can make you rapidly black out. It also requires a bag tie to stop survival instinct.

I was looking into other reactions, because CO2 is the least ideal gas to asphyxiate in because of hypercapnia, and there are simple products that theoretically make nitrogen instead, but idk how fast.

Theoretically you can mix hydrogen peroxide and ammonia to generate ammonium nitrite, which is unstable and easily turns into nitrogen + water. But again, I don't know if it's as simple and straightforward as baking soda + citric acid.

Is there a simple and inexpensive way to generate nitrogen gas?

It's fairly easy to generate a significant yield of hydrogen gas simply by reacting zinc metal with $\ce{HCl}$ or aluminum with $\ce{NaOH}$ solution. But is there a simple and inexpensive chemical

chemistry.stackexchange.com

If you can't make an exit bag there's definitely rudimentary ways to create something similar. But of course it has its drawbacks.

Also you can look up threads of people that have tried the method on this site, there's at least 2.

 

[xxpinkmoonglitterxx]

Thank you very much for your reply.

 

[Dying Knight]

Theoretically you can mix hydrogen peroxide and ammonia to generate ammonium nitrite, which is unstable and easily turns into nitrogen + water.

I think, the method with

3H2O2 + 2NH3 = 6H2O + N2

is rather impractical because ammonia is a strong irritant even in small quantities. You wouldn't want to have such contaminations in the gas you gonna inhale.

Decomposition of NH4NO2 produced by NaNO2 + NH4Cl should be a better way to produce N2.

 

[chuerdhmproton]

Is it possible to die by putting a plastic bag over your head, then going to sleep?

yes it works very well I tried it and it was a success

 

[snowcloud9]

I think, the method with

3H2O2 + 2NH3 = 6H2O + N2

is rather impractical because ammonia is a strong irritant even in small quantities. You wouldn't want to have such contaminations in the gas you gonna inhale.

Decomposition of NH4NO2 produced by NaNO2 + NH4Cl should be a better way to produce N2.

Ah I have not had experience with ammonia. My bad. Apparently thermal hand warmers are just as effective.

 

[ClownWorld2023]

I think, the method with

3H2O2 + 2NH3 = 6H2O + N2

is rather impractical because ammonia is a strong irritant even in small quantities. You wouldn't want to have such contaminations in the gas you gonna inhale.

Decomposition of NH4NO2 produced by NaNO2 + NH4Cl should be a better way to produce N2.

Unfortunately NaNO2 is difficult to obtain nowadays.