Which deaths cause angel lust?

April 18, 2011 11:50 AM

Which circumstances lead to an erection after death?

The wikipedia article specifically talks only about hanging and other damage to the spinal cord. Is this the only way that "angel lust" occurs, or can it occur in other circumstances? Other articles that I can find online talk about gravity causing it, but the only methods of death specified are hanging, head trauma and certain poisons. (I was thinking of crucifixion specifically, although I was doubting it, given that the body dies of suffocation, which would indicate that blood would not suddenly pool in an area of the body after death. But now I'm curious and want to know.)

posted by Hactar to science & nature (6 answers total)

Showing former EMT friend Ask Mefi and he says spinal injury, priopism (sp?). Says common in car accidents.
posted by letahl at 11:53 AM on April 18, 2011

It's called priapism, and it's a classic symptom of spinal cord injury (not necessarily death).
posted by charmcityblues at 12:06 PM on April 18, 2011

hanging usually does that.
posted by spacefire at 5:40 PM on April 18, 2011

See Erotic asphyxiation.
posted by adamvasco at 3:27 AM on April 19, 2011

"Angel Lust" would be a great band name.
posted by Pecantree at 7:58 AM on April 19, 2011

Alvin Kernan, who was a sailor on the USS Hornet during the Battle of Santa Cruz, describes the aftermath of an attack by Japanese torpedo planes:

There was fire forward where the plane had crashed through, the deck was red with heat, and several bomb holes in the oily deck were pouring out smoke. Among the burning and smoldering blankets dotted about the deck were bodies, some terribly burned, others dismembered, some appearing unharmed. The burns were the worst to see, huge blisters oozing fluid, the tight charred smelly flesh, the member sometimes projecting as if straining for some final grotesque sexual act. A place not to linger, but there was now all-hands work to be done here.

(From Crossing the Line, Kernan's unforgettable account of life in the US Navy during the Pacific war.)
posted by verstegan at 9:22 AM on April 23, 2011 [1 favorite]