“Girl dies for a challenge of Tik Tok” is, unfortunately, a headline that is repeated lately in newspapers around the world. The dangerous challenges of the Internet have been known for more than ten years. They are mainly disseminated through social networks and repeated ad nauseam by young and not so young people from all over the planet.
Although some viral challenges are fun and supportive (they help spread rare diseases or clean up nature), we can also see countless absurd challenges on Tik Tok . These viral challenges or challenges called challenges are not new or unique in Tik Tok, but it is the social network in which they spread the most. And they are increasing more and more, both the challenges and the users of the network, which is only 6 years old, but is already overtaking YouTube to the left.
In this article we tell you 5 Tik Tok challenges in which people have died , most of them minors, for a handful of likes. But before you start, you have probably wondered why young people undertake these dangerous challenges without looking at the consequences.
According to María Gallego Blanco , a health psychologist with extensive experience in children and young people: “in the dangerous spiral of this type of challenge, many of the participants follow the impulse towards new, exotic and intense experiences in which the sense of belonging to the group and the social comparison play an important role. In other participants, promoters of these challenges, a lack of empathy and remorse is observed for the devastating consequences that they produce in third parties”.
1. What is the ‘blackout challenge’ ?
We could say that it isDangerous Tik Tok Viral Challengeand famous par excellence. One of the most searched on the Internet. It has been the cause of the death of at least 4 minors in the world (Venezuela, Italy, United States, Mexico) and has left another in brain death.
It is the most famous because it has been the cause of a lawsuit against TikTok by the Anderson family of Philadelphia. The parents of Nylah Anderson (10 years old), agirl who died from the “ blackout challenge”On December 7, 2021, legal action has been initiated. They claim that the network algorithm suggested their daughter to carry out the challenge.
This challenge, called theblackout challengein its Spanish translation, it consists of holding your breath for as long as possible until losing consciousness and then recounting the experience. They are usually helped by choking on household objects (shoelaces, belts from gowns, etc.).
What happens when there is a lack of oxygen in the brain?
We can cut off the blood supply to a finger or an arm for a few minutes, but it won’t take seconds for them to lose their function. Nevertheless,lack of blood flow to our brain causes loss of consciousnessbecause the brain is extremely sensitive to lack of blood. In the case of the “blackout challenge”, as it is the same person who exerts force, (although sometimes another intervenes) when losing consciousness, the blood flow returns and possibly consciousness.
However, if the person becomes unconscious with the blood flow blocked, the next thing that happens is that there is a lack of oxygen in the brain, it is calledanoxia cerebral. The electrical function of neurons begins to fail. occurs acardiorespiratory arrestand, if it is not resolved in less than four minutes, irreversible brain damage and eventual death can be caused.
2. The Skullbreaker: Fatal Head Injuries
This challenge, in addition to Tik Tok, has been broadcast on YouTube and has become very viral in the United Kingdom. It is the cause of at least two deaths registered until 2020 in Brazil and the United Kingdom. It consists of three people jumping at the same time, but the two at the ends trip the person in the middle in the air. The fall is almost always backwards with the consequenthead trauma.
In some schools it has become so viral that parents, teachers and health professionals have had to intervene. We have the case of the Mascalucia Red Cross Tik Tok account, which has made a video explaining the consequences of this fatal challenge.
These consequences range from spinal injuries, cervical sprains, head injuries due to skull fractures, brain hemorrhages and even death.
How do you know when a blow to the head is dangerous?
With the blow to the head itself, without there being any fracture of the skull,brain damage. This is because the brain collides with the skull in these types of quick, hard hits to the ground where the acceleration and deceleration forces are very strong. The stretch andnerve fiber rupturecertain areas, can have fatal consequences.
If the blow to the head occurs in one of the most fragile areas such as the base of the skull and the nape of the neck, there is an increased risk ofintracranial hemorrhagesand fractures. In this case, the brain is exposed to the outside, infection and abscesses may appear in the area.
The symptoms in the case of basilar skull fracture are: nausea,vomiting, confusion, vision disturbances, impaired ability to walksevere headache, change in the size of the pupils,seizuresand leakage of cerebrospinal fluid through the nose (rhinorrhea) or through the ears (otorrhea).
3. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison
It was already said by Parelso many years ago. With drugs, the key is in the dose. If we move in the so-called therapeutic dose, we will get a drug to help us. If we increase the dose to toxic limits,Drugs can harm us.
And this is what happened to a 15-year-old teenager who died from the“Benadryl® challenge”de Tik Tok, on August 31, 2020 in Oklahoma, after ingesting an excessive amount of the allergy medication Benadryl®.
This drug is composed ofdiphenhydramineAccording to the US National Library of Medicine:“Used to relieve redness, irritation, itching, and watery eyes, sneezing, and runny nose caused by hay fever, allergies, or the common cold”.
Another indication is included in the technical sheet of the medicine marketed in Spain: it is used forrelief of temporary difficulty sleeping. “It’s aantihistaminecausing drowsiness or drowsiness and helping you fall asleep more quickly and have a longer, deeper sleep”.
On the drug’s own website, the manufacturer has had to issue a statement and they tell us that: “Benadryl® It should only be used as directed on the label.Consuming this product excessively or improperly can cause serious adverse effects., with potentially long-term or even fatal consequences.
Specifically, it causesanticholinergic syndrome. According to Carrillo-Esper, in a published clinical case of a suicide attempt with this drug,“It is clinically characterized by restlessness, confusion, delirium, hallucinations, blurred vision, mydriasis, urinary retention, fever, tachycardia, hypertension, arrhythmias, cardiorespiratory collapse, coma, and death.”
4. The fine line of dangerous Tik Tok challenge to addiction
Chroming , more than a dangerous Tik Tok challenge, is an addictive practice that is increasing among young people. They do it looking for relaxing effects. In other cases, they inhale specific types of substances with which they seek to tan the skin. But the reality is that it is usually due to the search for the effects similar to alcohol produced by inhaling deodorants or sprays .
Inhalation deodorant use in Australia is epidemic. A case has been reported, that of Chloe Marlinda Rowe, of brain death due to this practice after 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. And there have also been 5 deaths reported since 2015. The last death has been recent. Brooke Ryan, a 16-year-old teenager, was found dead face down in her bed with deodorant in one hand and a cloth in the other.
The situation is so serious that in Australia, deodorant manufacturers have issued statements acknowledging these deaths due to misuse of their products and have even launched research campaigns to modify their components. Stores have had to close spray deodorants in locked cabinets .
What happens if you inhale deodorant?
Deodorants are considered aerosols within the classification of volatile substances. According to Kramp: ” Sudden death from inhalant abuse can occur during the first single dose or during chronic use.”
Sudden sniffing death is primarily associated with abuse of butane, propane, and the chemicals found in aerosol sprays. Propane produces an alcohol-like effect of disinhibition and euphoria. It is a hydrocarbon and hydrocarbons easily reach the blood and the brain. They dissolve in tissues with a high fat content, such as the nervous system, adipose tissue, liver, and kidneys.
When the blood concentration is high, some symptoms occur, among which are: difficulty speaking and understanding what they tell us, confusion, hallucinations and loss of consciousness .
Then the heart begins to beat weaker and slower. In addition, spasms occur in their arteries that cause the heart to stop due to sudden death. You also die because the volume and pressure of the gas can cause a lack of oxygen in the lungs, leading to heart failure.
5. ‘ Fractal Burning’ – don’t try this at home!
Not all dangerous viral Tik Tok challenges have to do with physical activities or challenges that directly threaten our health. There are viral challenges related to cooking, and like this case we are going to talk about, related to art and decoration.
And yes, some ” tiktokero challenge ” on crafts and decoration has cost the death of someone. The last recorded occurred last month. It was a couple from Wisconsin who have died electrocuted by this technique.
Fractal burning consists of decorating wood by burning it with electricity and chemical solutions , which generates wonderful artistic images called lichtengerg that resemble the branches of a tree.
The American Woodturners Association has listed a total of 33 fatalities caused by fractal wood burning . This is a very dangerous practice because high voltage electricity (more than 1,000 V) is used. And furthermore, people use cables and disassembled microwave parts to pass this electricity through pieces of wood soaked in a chemical solution, elements that lack safety.
What happens to your body if you get electrocuted?
Sometimes the person does not die and suffers from arrhythmias that appear up to 24 hours after the electrocution. Damage to the heart muscle, altered level of consciousness and behavior, transient and reversible paralysis of the legs , cranial hemorrhage , seizures , spinal cord injuries, persistent headache, and bone fractures from sudden contractions may also occur.
At other times, the amount of electricity or other circumstances cause death. According to Gómez Durán: “15 mA produce muscle contractions that can trap the victim in the electrified object.” And what happens is that we stop breathing. “At 30-50 mA they can produce ventricular fibrillation “, an arrhythmia that causes death.
And you, will you think about it before doing the next Tik Tok challenge ?
References:
AEMPS-CIMA. (2021), Package leaflet diphenhydramine omega pharma 50 mg tablets [Internet]. Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS. [cited on May 16, 2022]. Available at: https://cima.aemps.es/cima/dochtml/p/83596/P_83596.html%7D
Carrillo-Esper et al. (2012). anticholinergic syndrome. Medigraphic.com. [cited 2022 May 16]. Available at: https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/medsur/ms-2012/ms124i.pdfKramp ,
Gómez Duran et al. (2009). Electrocution and electric brand of Jellinek. Spanish Journal of Legal Medicine, 35(1), 32–35. DOI:10.1016/s0377-4732(09)70006-9.
Salih K H et al. (2018). Cardiac arrest by inhalation of deodorant spray. BMJ Case. DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2018-224345
