Research ive read (in addition to a lot of forensic medicine books i have)
Factors influencing the decision to use hanging as a method of suicide: qualitative study
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Porzionato A, Boscolo-Berto R. Assessing violent mechanical asphyxia in forensic pathology: State-of-the-art and unanswered questions
None of this research shows any data on what we're discussing here.
Forensic books? As far as I know, all forensic records are based on observations
after the event. I don't see how that's relevant. Obviously, airway obstruction will occur, which forensic evidence may find, but that's not the cause for loss of consciousness and brain death. Asphyxiation affects only the lower part of the body, below the neck, at a time when the person is already unconscious.
Anatomically, this corresponds to compression of the airway or jugular veins, leading to asphyxiation with CO₂ retention, which causes struggling, gasping, and distress—not a clean arterial cut-off.
If you're implying that blockage of the jugular veins and incomplete arterial cutoff is equivalent to asphyxiation and suffocation, then that's wrong. Obstruction of the jugular veins will still lead to quick loss of consciousness. Although it will be more uncomfortable due to the built-up pressure in the head, but it'll still be within a fraction of a minute and way quicker than it would be by suffocation.
haha funny how you don't believe any of my words and want "evidence". Man, I have my knowledge, my main interest is forensic medicine, I spent a lot of money purchasing academic books. In these books there are reports, witness testimonies, photos. I also watch many gore sites and I saw hundreds of videos of people being hanged and hanging themselves. I'm telling you what is the conclusion of what I saw, and also what the forensic pathologist say. f you don't want to believe, it's on you.
In other words, you're saying 'trust me bro'. Well, I don't, and that's on me. :) An
argument from authority is a logical fallacy.
Many people had fecal or urinary release - which is a proof of agonizing death (seen in long, painful deaths due to loss of sphincter control during intense agony).
No, it's not proof of agonizing death. It's just rhetoric to scare people away. Loss of sphincter control
can happen during agony
if the person is conscious, but it also happens when the person loses consciousness. No consciousness = no awareness, no agony, and no control.
Purple or blue face (cyanosis) and swollen tongue: clear signs of venous congestion, meaning blood couldn't drain from the head — oxygen was cut off, but arteries may have stayed open too long.
Petechiae (burst capillaries) in the eyes, cheeks, and inside lips: classic marker of prolonged hanging with incomplete vessel closure.
You're describing a situation when the jugulars are blocked, but the arteries are not. However, if blood can't get out, fresh blood can't get in either, so the person still loses consciousness quickly. The corpse won't look pretty, but the person still won't be aware of anything that's happening to them.
Twitching, clawed hands, torn fingernails, rope marks that dig into the jaw rather than the neck arteries — all signs someone was fighting for air, not slipping into sleep.
Wrong. Twitching, clawed hands are not signs of someone "fighting". Look up what decorticate posturing and decerebrate posturing are. The person is fully unconscious during these stages. And I don't know what "rope marks that dig into the jaw" has anything to do with all this. If the person is hanged in a vertical position, then the rope is pulled upwards and it's the jaw that prevents the rope from slipping off the neck. Obviously, there will be marks.
Body is often bloated in the face, red or blackened, with eyes bulging out, tongue protruding, and facial muscles frozen in a painful grimace. That's not some peaceful fade-out. It's the result of your brain slowly frying without oxygen while your heart keeps pointlessly beating.
If this happens, it doesn't look peaceful, but it's still quick, and consciousness can be lost rapidly. Bulging eyes and the other things you describe can happen if the arteries are not fully blocked. This is mostly a danger with partial hanging. It can be prevented by doing full suspension, or doing partial in a standing position.
The heart keeps beating because it's controlled by the sinoatrial node, which is a specialized cluster of muscle fibres located in the right atrium of the heart – it doesn't need the brain's involvement, and has nothing to do with the "brain slowly frying".
Those are real things that more often than you think, happen to people and is well documented both in scientific books, and in "gory" videos.
So yeah — if you're thinking hanging is guaranteed instant peace, you've been lied to by posts written by people who don't know. When hanging is done wrong (which, statistically, it often is outside executions), it can be gruesome, drawn-out, and traumatic — both for you and whoever finds you.
There is a reason why many developed countries banned hanging due to ethical concerns, risk of errors, and high probability of suffering. Improperly performed hanging can lead to agonizing, prolonged strangulation rather than quick unconsciousness.
I agree that if hanging is done incorrectly, it can look gruesome, or it can be more agonising than it should be. However, where most people are mistaken is that they confuse gruesomeness with agony. For example self-poisoning or overdosing on anything might not look gruesome, but might actually feel worse – I don't know whether that's true, I'm just trying to illustrate what I mean. All other things being equal, if one method is more gruesome, people will always
assume it's more painful.
You mention gore videos. Where do you see these videos? I have seen many of them myself, and nearly all of them shows that the person loses consciousness within about 10 seconds. And what scientific books? You keep mentioning books, but there are no books on this. I believe that there are books on forensic analysis and their findings, and you're formulating your own assumptions based on those, but those are still your assumptions. I suppose if there were any relevant, concrete evidence or research supporting your claims, you would have mentioned or quoted it by now.
Regarding why hanging was banned, it's a whole other topic, but I'm not so sure it was just because it's unreliable. Often, capital punishment itself was abolished regardless of method, and when hangings were banned, they weren't necessarily considered to be cruel at the time. Or it was often replaced by other methods which were just as cruel or unreliable (e.g. electrocution). And we can also circle back to the argument whether it's actually cruel, or just
looks violent and people can't take it, even if it's done correctly.
Fight-or-flight response: Also called hyperarousal or the acute stress response) is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival.
