** I published this entry when I wasn’t quite ready… I’ve now finished the entry at the bottom and it carries an important message so please - if you want - skip the top and read the bottom! **

Okay, so random pictures with your friends can be fun, right.. even when there’s drinks involved.

[insert incriminating embarrassing photo with friends here]

But holding a knife to your friend’s throat and visa versa? Not really cool, it’s actually very, very creepy. In fact, I am so weirded out by these pictures I can’t stop staring at them. They’re like a train wreck or a car accident that you can’t help but rubberneck and over analyze.

Who actually finds these recently released pictures of Lindsay Lohan and her “friend” (now confirmed to be Vanessa Minnillo) anything but completely disturbing?

For some reason, this brings back memories of when I was a preteen and we used to play that deadly game of “Passout“. The dangers of this game, unknown to us at the time, so severe (um, like death) are still unknown to many children these days who are indulging in this dangerous behaviour.

As parents it’s important to understand the attraction of this “game” because there really aren’t any signs - until it’s too late.

Typically it’s done in a group. The person elected to “pass out” will take a deep breath and hold it while they have their head down (to bring blood to the brain). Once the elected person stands, a friend quickly crosses the elected person’s arms around their own throat (essentially giving themselves a bear hug) and pulls them taught. This causes the elected person to lose consciousness for a short period of time (which seems infinite at the moment). It causes a rush of blood and deprivation of oxygen, a similar sensation to getting high.

It’s become an addiction to many, and more then enough have lost their lives from taking the game too far. Some children taking it so far as to “play” alone in their bedroom using coated bicycle locks, belt, shoe laces, ties, etc., in some instances resulting in the child’s death.

I know the addiction, because I was one of the fortunate ones that did not succumb to the game.

A couple signs you could spot are the following:

• Red marks or bruising around the neck
• Bloodshot eyes
• Headaches
• Disorientation
• Items such as knotted T-shirts, belts, rope or bags also could be clues.
• The sound of a thud in the bedroom or against a wall could be the sound of a child falling after playing the choking game alone.

But don’t take these as gospel. It can be done with no warning signs, and it only takes ONE TIME.

The Passout Game, Knock Out, Passout, The Twitching Game … all names it goes by.

Read it. Learn it. KNOW it! Protect your children; and the best way how is to talk to them. Prepare yourself and arm your child with the knowledge of this deadly game.