La Petite Mort - French for Little Death

Trust the French to make nearly dying of a brain embolism sound sexy. Mind you in their defense, actual sex is involved. Because La Petite Mort, or the immediately post-orgasmic physiological phenomenon known as Little Death (which does occur both in men and woman) occurs at the very peak of intense sexual passion, as Wikipedia explains.

“La petite mort is an expression that refers to a brief loss or weakening of consciousness, and in modern usage refers specifically to a post-orgasm sensation as likened to death.
The first attested use of the expression in English was in 1572 with the meaning of "fainting fit". It later came to mean "nervous spasm" as well. The first attested use with the meaning of "orgasm" was in 1882. In modern usage, this term has generally been interpreted to describe the post-orgasm.”

Jeez there has even been a ballet written and performed about the phrase and its implications for the sexual release, with the Australian Ballet Company performing it. That’s one song and dance act for the must-do-must-see list.

The Australian Ballet explained the artistic history and application of La Petit Mort via their web page further and the article bears repeating as is in its great explanation of the phrase that led to the ballet.

“Jiří Kylián created the play for the Nederlands Dans Theatre in 1991, and it’s been popular ever since. Petite Mort, translated from French, means “little death”, and is generally used as a euphemism for orgasm. Kylián’s Petite Mort plays on this meaning with subtle sexual symbolism (Published 13 June 2014).

The term La Petite Mort has quite a history. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it referred to a temporary and brief loss of consciousness, such as one may experience from fainting or dizziness. But the term has always been linked in some way with sexual release.

During medieval times, physicians believed that too much sex was bad for your health, sometimes leading to death because the act of sexual climax resulted in the “life force” being drained from the body. The term la petite mort became aligned with this medical belief, which persisted well into the Renaissance era and beyond.

There are many allusions to La Petite Mort in our most famous literature. In Chaucer’s more bawdy moments in The Canterbury Tales, he humorously mentions the ills of too-frequent sex, linking it to death. Shakespeare also referenced La Petite Mort in many of his plays. Lines such as “I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes” from Much Ado about Nothing and “I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom” from King Lear were not simply romantic declarations, they were bold references to orgasm.

The Romantics took La Petite Mort to the flowery extreme in their poetry, with images of wild seas crashing into rocks and toppling mountains representing the “death” of orgasm, which Shelley called “the death which lovers love” in his poem “The Boat on the Serchio” (1824). Thomas Hardy, on the other hand, explicitly used La Petite Mort in Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891) to describe his heroine’s reaction to meeting her future rapist, predicting her loss of innocence: “She felt the Petite Mort at this unexpectedly gruesome information, and left the solitary man behind her”.

Here, Hardy reveals another meaning for La Petite Mort often used by philosophers. For modern philosophers, La Petite Mort is about more than just the physical act of sexual climax, it’s also about psychological loss. Some philosophers have theorised that La Petite Mort is about the spiritual release that comes with orgasm. This spiritual release, they argue, makes you temporarily “lose” yourself. Some scientists have linked this feeling to the release of oxytocin in the brain after an orgasm. For a philosopher like the Roland Barthes, it’s a feeling that we can find beyond the bedroom.

More recently, romance novels and erotica such as Fifty Shades of Grey tend to use the idea of “blacking out” or entering another state of consciousness through sexual orgasm. 

I however as an Australasian Kiwi self-trained expert on all things sexual, not to mention but I must, also after decades of hands-on research, hereby state that I passionately disagree (to the point of fainting) with the above recorded academic/medical history of the term meaning Little Death. Nup! I reckon the feeling which I have experienced many a time over a long pure and sinless existence and related sex life believe that the splitting headache deep within the brain, and the associated need to hold my head in my hands whilst collapsing on whatever is closest to me, (at times the poor woman), has a more simple and physiological explanation.

High Blood Pressure! There I said it. Thinking back to my experiences of La Petite Mort it usually occurred when engaged in the wonderful beast-with-two-backs buttery-jig in the standing position. Standing increases blood pressure and the intensity of the climax exponentially increases blood pressure thereby threatening to explode my head. Rest assured though dear readers as I now take several medications to treat high blood pressure and haven’t died the small death since. Now let’s look at actual death during intercourse.   

Wikipedia as if reading my post orgasmic mind, confirms my theory in this long but highly entertaining post.

Death can occur during sexual intercourse for a number of reasons, generally because of the physical strain of the activity, or because of unusual extenuating circumstances. There are various euphemisms for death during sex, including "dying in the saddle" or the French "la mort d'amour" (lit. 'death of love').[1]

A 2011 meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that each additional hour of sexual activity per week resulted in an increased risk of 2–3 myocardial infarctions and one sudden cardiac death [SCD] per 10,000 person-years. Sexual intercourse can also trigger a subarachnoid haemorrhage via the Valsalva manoeuvre. A 2011 meta-analysis published in Journal of Sexual Medicine found that men who were unfaithful were significantly more likely than those who were faithful to experience severe or fatal cardiac events during sex. Basilar artery dissection has also been reported in connection with sexual activity, though most coital cephalalgia is benign in nature.

Deaths during consensual sex account for approximately 0.6% of all sudden deaths. In the UK, of all people under 50 who suffered SCD, 0.2% did so within an hour of sex. Sildenafil, although generally considered to be a safe drug, has been linked to SCD during sexual activity among elderly or otherwise infirm men. (changing my meds as we speak).

A number of deaths during consensual sex have been linked to the use of other prescription or recreational drugs, such as cocaine. The majority of deaths due to cardiovascular causes during sex occur in males.

The heart condition endothelial dysfunction is a contributing cause to both atherosclerosis and erectile dysfunction. Because of the link between these conditions, rates of coronary heart disease are higher among patients with erectile dysfunction. One treatment for erectile dysfunction is cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, which enable patients to resume having sex despite having a cardiac condition, by lowering blood pressure. These drugs, including sildenafil, inhibit the action of the phosphodiesterase, allowing for a higher concentration of cyclic GMP in the penis when it is physically stimulated. Cyclic GMP is a second messenger in the nitric oxide pathway, responsible for erections via the vasodilating function of nitric oxide. Sudden cardiac death can be caused by myocardial ischemia, and the physical activity of sexual intercourse in patients with coronary artery disease can result in myocardial ischemia. 

Notable cases of death caused from sexual intercourse:

This list only contains deaths, whether intentional murder or accidental death, which occurred during or directly due to consensual sex—not non-consensual sexual acts, such as rape.

Pope John XII died on 14 May 964; one story relates that he died of a paralytic stroke suffered while having sex with a woman named Stefanetta. He may have died instead when the woman's husband defenestrated John (throwing him out the window!) or beat him to death with a hammer during the act.

Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, died in 1865 following a brief illness; sources disagree about the immediate circumstances of his death. It is rumoured that sex on a billiard table with a maid precipitated his demise, (blue ball in the corner pocket!) but this account is disputed, with other sources stating that he died of pneumonia.

Félix Faure, president of France from 1895 to 1899, is widely reported to have died while receiving fellatio from his mistress, Marguerite Steinheil. The cause of death was listed as a cerebral haemorrhage. Eyewitnesses stated he was in a state of partial undress. This version is disputed by some historians.

Cardinal Jean Daniélou, a prolific and renowned Jesuit theologian, died in 1974 inside a Paris brothel at 69 years of age. Although the prostitute he was visiting said he was delivering charity, this account was not believed by some.

Nelson Rockefeller, former Vice President of the United States and heir to the Rockefeller family fortune, died in 1979 of a heart attack at age 70, rumoured to be caused by an orgasm during intercourse with his secretary, Megan Marshack. The unusual circumstances surrounding his death caused New York magazine to quip, "Nelson thought he was coming, but he was going". Contemporaneous accounts of his death differed greatly and his hasty cremation left the exact cause of death uncertain.^[24]

Japanese writer Isamu Togawa had heart failure in 1983 due to his chronic arrhythmia; according to Taro Maki, Togawa died during sexual intercourse at his hotel room. 

British actor Patrick Troughton, known for playing the Second Doctor in Doctor Who, died on 28 March 1987 of a heart attack in his hotel room. It was strongly rumoured that he died during intercourse with a fan he met at the convention he was attending.

Sir Billy Snedden, Australian politician and former leader of the Liberal Party, "expired 'at the peak of physical congress' (as a policeman told Truth)" in 1987. Nineteen years later, his son (and lover of the same woman with whom Snedden was having sex at the time of his death- WTF) was quoted as saying "I'm sure the old man went out happy—anyone would be proud to die on the job."

In 1997, a woman from Houston died after she fell from a balcony in Los Angeles during sex with her employer.

In Romania in 1999, a man and a woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex in a car which they had parked in a garage with the engine still running.

In 2007, a man and woman, both 21, were discovered naked on an empty street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, with multiple injuries resulting from a fall. Their clothes were later found on the roof of a four-story building adjacent to the road. Both died in the hospital after falling 50 ft (15 m) from the building.

In 2008, a York County, Pennsylvania woman died when she was electrocuted by homemade nipple clamps, an example of an erotic electrostimulation practice. Her death was ruled a homicide after which her husband was charged with recklessly endangering another person.

In 2009, an Atlanta Police Department officer died from atherosclerotic coronary artery disease while engaged in a threesome. His widow sued his doctor and was awarded a $3 million settlement, with the jury finding that the doctor did not properly diagnose and treat the police officer's pre-existing health issues. 

In 2013, a man and woman in Zimbabwe were having sex outdoors when they were attacked by a lion; the woman died.

In 2018, a 29-year-old prostitute died in Saint Petersburg, Russia, after choking on a condom while performing fellatio on a man. The condom slipped off the client during the act and blocked the prostitute's airways.  

In 2020, a 35-year-old man collapsed and died in the company of a prostitute in Phalombe, Malawi. Local police, and later the general practitioner of the nearby Migowi health centre examined his body, and determined the cause of death to be "excessive orgasm which caused blood vessels in the brain to rupture". Police said the sex worker would not be prosecuted, because she “committed no crime by being too sweet for the man”

So, there you have it. Sex is fucking dangerous. It’s only for elite athletes. Couch potatoes engage at your own peril as every time that you take your pants off you risk La Grande Mort. 

Regards
Magnum (French speaking Australasian Death-by-Sex Expert)
For: Langtrees.com 

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