# Amount Of Pain Experienced During Various Methods of Execution **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530 "2003-09-29T19:04:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![exvex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@exvex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exvex)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/1 "2003-09-29T19:04:14Z")
Electric Chair Firing Squad Gas Chamber Guillotine Hanging Self-Inflicted gunshot wound to the head Provided the act is not botched, but is performed swiftly and successfully, how much physical pain might be experienced during these various methods of termination? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/2 "2003-09-29T19:44:08Z")
In theory, the electric chair should be painless, since, according to [this site](http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/Protocol%20Electric%20Chair.htm) with electric chair specifications: > [@](#): > > Generally, unconsciousness occurs in 4.16 milliseconds, which is 1/240 part of a second. This is twenty-four (24) times as fast as the subjects conscious nervous system can record pain. By contrast, here’s what they have to say about [hanging](http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/Protocol%20Hanging.htm): > [@](#): > > The executee will be dropped a distance as defined in the Drop Distance Table and his acceleration will be stopped by the rope around his neck. This will result in the breakage of several neck bones and the severing of the spinal cord within a time period of less than a second. The executee will immediately enter medical shock. **He will probably experience one brief instant (measured in milliseconds) of pain before he loses all consciousness and all sensation.** His body will go limp with paralysis. He will then strangle due to the lack of oxygen. He should be brain dead in something more than six minutes and heart dead in about eight. ---
**Author:** ![exvex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b77776/32.png) [@exvex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exvex)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/3 "2003-09-29T19:54:33Z")
\>unconsciousness occurs in 4.16 milliseconds, \>which is 1/240 part of a second. \>This is twenty-four (24) times as fast as \>the subjects conscious nervous system can record pain. I had no idea. Hanging sounds a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/4 "2003-09-29T20:23:45Z")
Well, of course another persons experience of pain is pretty hard to quantify; but, if I was going to go from least to most painful (physically) my list would look a bit like this: Self-Inflicted gunshot firing squad guillotine gas chamber electric chair hanging gas chamber and electric chair seem pretty close to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/5 "2003-09-29T21:04:35Z")
I’m pretty sure it takes longer than 4.16 ms to die in a gas chamber. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/6 "2003-09-29T21:16:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by alice\_in\_wonderland \* > \*\* > > gas chamber and electric chair seem pretty close to me. \*\* From Charles Panati’s Extraordinary Endings Of Practically Everything And Everybody > [@](#): > > One of the most famous of such experiments was conducted in 1960 with convicted murderer Caryl Chessman. Chessman agreed to inhale the lethal fumes and blink and nod his head to indicate varying degrees of pain. To the horror of doctors and news reporters observing the execution, Chessman signaled vigorously, indicating that the gassing death was agonizing. The next morining, a reporter wrote: “I thought he must be dead but no, there was another agonizing period during which he choked on the gas. And again. And then again. There was a long period, another deep gasp. At the fourth such straining, Chessman’s head lolled in a half circle, coming forward so that he faced downward with his chin almost touching his chest. This must be the end. But the dying went on.” > Some victims have died relatively quickly after two or three minutes. But the average death process from gassing takes eight or nine minutes, and the longest on record, in North Carolina, took eleven minutes. ``` Lethal execution would seem to be the most painless. ``` [Pink Floyd] Just a little pinprick. . .[/Pink Floyd] ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/7 "2003-09-29T21:33:34Z")
Well, it probably depends on what kind of hanging - a drop with a short stop, with a properly tied knot, should break the neck etc, but without both those things, it’d probably be an agonizing death from suffocation. I’ve also read (I can’t recall where, so no cite) that electrocutions are occasionally screwed up, for example with improper placement/attachment of the electrodes. That was supposed to be a pretty horrible death also. And self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head sometimes miss enough so that the person doesn’t die, but is generally left severely handicapped. And I was feeling pretty cheerful and non-morbit today, too. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/8 "2003-09-29T23:11:44Z")
I still say there’s no better way to hit the ‘off’ button on a human than near instant decapitation (i.e. guillotine). I mean, as long as it slices right thru you quickly there is just no way there could be any sensation. You’re severing your pain ‘generators’ from the ‘receiver’ (your brain). Plus the moment blood stops being pumped thru your brain you black out in a few seconds. Incedible gruesome for spectators, but probably utterly painless for the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/9 "2003-09-30T00:01:46Z")
They tried to do a study on this once, but none of the participants responded. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/10 "2003-09-30T00:04:37Z")
Panati’s book, quoted above by **Doc** discusses hanging, the guillotine, lethal injection and electric chair, too. Probably available at your local library. ---
**Author:** ![Kalimero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aca169/32.png) [@Kalimero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalimero)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/11 "2003-09-30T01:07:12Z")
**Re: Hanging** In our forensic medicine course, the prof told us we wouldn’t pass the exam should we mention “neck breaking” as a common consequence of hanging. He said that even in judicial executions, a fracture of the spine would be quite rare. The main cause of death - according to him - is acute hypoxia of the brain by strangulation of the carotid arteries. [This page](http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/byname/hanging-injuries-and-strangulation.htm) says that in judicial hangings, injury of the spinal cord would in fact be common, so I’m not so sure about this. However: > [@](#): > > Regardless of disagreement on theories, most experts agree that death ultimately occurs from cerebral hypoxia and ischemic neuronal death. As a proof, our prof showed us a video of a man who filmed himself committing suicide: The noose was made in a way it wouldn’t tighten around his neck, so neck-breaking could be ruled out. Nevertheless, the guy became unconsious in about two seconds after he let himself drop into the noose. His body continued to perform some bizarre movements for some time, like he was trying to breath, but he was **clearly** unconscious. According to our prof, these movements could go on for quite some time and it could take half an hour until the heart eventually stopped beating. (And yes, this video has been the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen.) Thus, hanging, while certainly a “slow” death, should actually be quite “humane”, no matter wheter the spinal cord gets injured or not. ---
**Author:** ![Reader99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/12 "2003-09-30T01:36:09Z")
“Provided the act is not botched” is a big if. Here is a link to a list of botched executions. [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=478](http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=478) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/13 "2003-09-30T02:01:50Z")
Where, exactly, would _self_ inflicted “gunshots to the head” be used for executions? I imagine, though, that having someone _else_ shooting you in the back of the head (like in China) would be very fast indeed…once the brain is destroyed, whatever inner essence that made up a “person” is dead. From all accounts, even ones in the United States, the Gas Chamber is the most agonizing method of execution. From what I remember, the Cyanide gas used for the execution blocks the lungs’ ability to absorb oxygen from the air, so that executee is left gulping for air that his body can’t use anymore. Oddly enough, it was _California_ that used it for the longest time. Not sure how long a “firing squad” execution would take…but, a half-dozen odd 30-06 rifle bullets hitting you square in in the heart? It can’t take very long. The Guillotine shouldn’t take that long, if at all…even if the head was _capable_ of staying alive for a few seconds after decapitation, the shock and force of the blade’s impact would probably knock the executee unconscious anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/14 "2003-09-30T02:17:00Z")
Define “gunshot”. I can see that shooting yourself with a .22 could be survivable, but a shotgun would certainly do the trick. It seems to me that a head-box and a single shotgun shell should be the preferred method of execution; it might not be pretty, and the cleanup might be hard, but it could never be painful… ---
**Author:** ![Reader99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df788c/32.png) [@Reader99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reader99)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/15 "2003-09-30T02:20:16Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_262.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_262.html) > **[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars](https://www.thoughtco.com/french-revolution-4133277)** > > Fought between 1792 and 1815, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars consumed Western Europe. Discover more about the history of these conflicts, including the various coalitions of Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Portugal, and... ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/16 "2003-09-30T02:40:28Z")
Hell, a Colt .45 against the back of the skull would probably do the trick, **Phage**. Maybe a Desert Eagle, just to be safe. Or…I think some modern slaughterhouses use a pneumatic (hydraulic?) system, basically a narrow piston that is “fired” into the brain at high speeds. Death is still instantaneous, but with the added bonus of not having the skull explode. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/17 "2003-09-30T02:45:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Not sure how long a “firing squad” execution would take…but, a half-dozen odd 30-06 rifle bullets hitting you square in in the heart? It can’t take very long. I thought that, in a firing squad execution, only one of the rifleman actually has a live round. The rest have blanks. The live round is assigned randomly, so nobody knows for sure who will fire the deadly shot. I imagine that the shooters would know after the fact, due to recoil differences. I’ve heard the same thing about other methods of execution - there are multiple switches to turn on the electric chair or open the trap door on the gallows, and the switches are pulled simultaneously by different people - again, so that nobody knows who specifically killed the condemned man. I’m open to correction, of course. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/18 "2003-09-30T02:50:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phase42 \* > \*\*I thought that, in a firing squad execution, only one of the rifleman actually has a live round. The rest have blanks. The live round is assigned randomly, so nobody knows for sure who will fire the deadly shot. \*\* [It’s the other way round.](http://www.urbanlegends.com/death/utah_firing_squads.html) One rifleman has a blank, the rest are live. ---
**Author:** ![Kalimero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aca169/32.png) [@Kalimero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalimero)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/19 "2003-09-30T10:26:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\* From what I remember, the Cyanide gas used for the execution blocks the lungs’ ability to absorb oxygen from the air, so that executee is left gulping for air that his body can’t use anymore. \*\* Actually, cyanide blocks the _cell’s_ ability to use the oxygen. So, the cells “suffocte” even though the blood is normally oxygenated. [http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic118.htm](http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic118.htm) > [@](#): > > **Pathophysiology:** Cyanide affects virtually all body tissues, attaching itself to ubiquitous metalloenzymes and rendering them inactive. Its principal toxicity probably results from inactivation of cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome aa3) and, thus, cellular respiration, even in the presence of adequate oxygen stores. Consequently, the tissues with the highest oxygen requirements (eg, brain, heart, liver) are the most profoundly affected by acute cyanide poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530/20 "2003-09-30T12:28:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*I still say there’s no better way to hit the ‘off’ button on a human than near instant decapitation (i.e. guillotine). I mean, as long as it slices right thru you quickly there is just no way there could be any sensation. You’re severing your pain ‘generators’ from the ‘receiver’ (your brain). Plus the moment blood stops being pumped thru your brain you black out in a few seconds. > > Incedible gruesome for spectators, but probably utterly painless for the subject. \*\* Depends on whether you have resigned yourself to your fate or not… If you don’t want to die, I imagine hearing the release of the guillotine and hearing it rumble down towards you would be pretty “painful” from a pychological standpoint. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amount-of-pain-experienced-during-various-methods-of-execution/204530.md?page=2)