Erotic asphyxiation, asphyxiophilia, breath control play, or scarfing, is the practice of intentionally reducing the amount of oxygen to the brain during sexual stimulation in order to heighten the received pleasure from orgasm. A sexual partner may or may not be involved, however, if one is excluded the practice can be referred to as autoerotic asphyxiation, or AEA. Various methods are used to achieve the level of oxygen depletion needed such as a plastic bag over the head or self-strangulation, typically by the use of a ligature (scarfing). The increased pleasure results from the body producing more endorphins as it approaches the state of asphyxia. Pleasurable or not, it is an extremely dangerous practice that results in many accidental deaths each year.

Deaths often occur when the loss of consciousness caused by partial asphyxia leads to loss of control over the means of strangulation, resulting in continued asphyxia and death. Victims are often found to have rigged some sort of "rescue mechanism" which has not worked in the way they anticipated as they lost consciousness.