# Fainting as a Result of Learning Shocking News **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911 "2013-08-22T22:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/1 "2013-08-22T22:00:09Z")
Don’t know why I got to thinking about this. In the movie \*\*Castaway \*\*(hope I don’t have to spoiler box this) when Helen Hunt’s character receives a phone call and learns that the Tom Hanks character is still alive and has been rescued, she abruptly loses conscience and falls to the floor. I’ve certainly seen this in other films but have never witnessed it personally nor know of anyone who has had this happen to them. So I open this up to the dopers. Has this ever happened to you or do you know of someone who upon hearing some sort of earth-shattering news, fainted on the spot? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/2 "2013-08-22T22:07:19Z")
I’ve been scared/disturbed to the point where I lost my knees, but never fainted. Never seen it. I’ve heard wearing a corset kept you on the verge of hypoxia anyways, so maybe it’s a Victorian reality that persists in modern imagination? ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/3 "2013-08-22T22:07:34Z")
The current medical term for this is ‘vasovagal snycope’ (syncope means fainting). It has happened to me once. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/4 "2013-08-22T22:09:35Z")
Just to be clear…do you wear a corset? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/5 "2013-08-22T22:20:57Z")
When my father had a heart attack we got to visit him in the hospital, one by one, after he was awake and stable. I walked into his room and there he was. Your father is supposed to be BIG, you know? And strong, a guy with presence. Dad looked short, white, and weak.(He’s tall irl) I felt my stomach and knees start to wobble, so I leaned on the little tray table attaced to the bed. It got worse so I said “Dad, I have to go to the bathroom!” and ran out of the room. My mom was coming in and she said “ **Baker** , why are you so pale?” If I hadn’t left I know I would have passed out. Not quite what the OP is after, but close. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/6 "2013-08-22T22:20:57Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Just to be clear…do you wear a corset? Never again! ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/7 "2013-08-22T22:26:50Z")
I’ve seen it happen. My grandmother fainted when she found out her daughter died. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/8 "2013-08-22T22:31:43Z")
I fainted when my Mig called to tell me he was going to be deported. I fainted at the scene of his accident a week before, but that’s more understandable. It was very hot out and I was hysterical. When I was on the phone and fainted I fell over on my daughter and she thought I died. It was awful for both of us. The only other time I’ve fainted is when I was a teen and my mother had just had an IV pulled when she started spouting blood. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/9 "2013-08-22T22:34:10Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > So I open this up to the dopers. Has this ever happened to you or do you know of someone who upon hearing some sort of earth-shattering news, fainted on the spot? I have seen it, once. I’d rather not go into big detail, but basically the man received bad news about his health. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/10 "2013-08-22T23:08:26Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > When I was on the phone and fainted I fell over on my daughter and she thought I died. Unrelated to the thread entirely, I fainted in front of my kid very shortly after the first time I donated blood. He also thought I died! He was so sad and scared, poor kid. Anyway, I’ve received some shocking news before (teenager, best friend died) and I don’t remember fainting really, but I did wind up blocking a lot of it out of my memory somehow. I remember my mom saying, “Something bad happened today…” and I remember screaming, but I don’t remember anything else up until my dad showed up to pick me up like a half hour later. And then I only remember getting to our destination, not actually ever leaving my house and driving there. I think I blacked out for a second while I was getting robbed at a convenience store. But, again, maybe I just blocked a small time period out of my memory and just don’t remember being awake? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/11 "2013-08-22T23:11:40Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > When I was on the phone and fainted I fell over on my daughter and she thought I died. It was awful for both of us. The only other time I’ve fainted is when I was a teen and my mother had just had an IV pulled when she started spouting blood. First time I helped with a circumcision I came pretty close to passing out. Wasn’t even that much blood. Never just from hearing news though. Not yet. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/12 "2013-08-23T00:23:40Z")
I fainted after I had a car accident, right in the middle of signing the refusal to be treated forms. My friend was murdered recently (in a murder-suicide); I didn’t faint when I heard the news but I sat down rather abruptly on the floor and saw stars for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/13 "2013-08-23T00:35:55Z")
I’ve seen it happen to a coworker. Her soldier fiancee had been deployed overseas at very short notice and no one could say when he would be back. To some extent she depended on him financially so she hadn’t been eating properly. One week before Christmas his sergeant dropped into the shop where we worked, to tell her he would be back by Christmas eve, and she just dropped to the floor. She recovered consciousness almost straight away and was almost crying with happiness. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/14 "2013-08-23T00:49:52Z")
My father fainted once after an operation. He got up to go to the restroom and for some reason mistakenly believed he’d been emasculated. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/15 "2013-08-23T01:16:53Z")
Not as the result of a shock, but my grandfather and I both have a tendency to faint when we’re around dying people–in hospice or hospital. Sympathy with the dying I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/16 "2013-08-23T01:19:46Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > I’ve seen it happen. My grandmother fainted when she found out her daughter died. My mother fainted when she found out that her grandmother had died. I also fainted once, apparently because it was Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/17 "2013-08-23T01:45:20Z")
I once got a letter from a friend, telling me he hated me, thought I was dishonest, and that he was never going to speak to me again. Now, this was a total surprise at the time, as I had no idea anything was wrong at all! (Later, it turned out to be a misunderstanding, and we’re good buds to this day.) I didn’t exactly faint, but, right there in the Post Office, I became remarkably clumsy. I dropped everything I was carrying and couldn’t manage to pick it up. I also remember my face becoming very cold and stiff. (I have no idea if I was flushed or pale, but something was going on with facial blood vessels.) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/18 "2013-08-23T02:47:54Z")
Once, for me. The time some fucking asshole ended a multi-city murderous spree by driving a stolen suv into the front doors of my wife and my workplace, skidding more than a hundred yards around inside before putting a bullet through his head into the ceiling. I got there just before anything was known about folks inside. I remember sitting down hard in the parking lot, and then being checked by some paramedics. Think I posted here about it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/19 "2013-08-23T02:56:43Z")
If I hadn’t slid to the floor/sat down hard I certainly would have passed out when I heard the news that my friend was dead (of a suicide, as it turns out). All of my co-workers were looking at me waiting for the news (they were hoping everything was fine) and when the police told me he’d “passed away”, my ears started to ring LOUDLY and I saw stars. My knees went out and I slid down the wall to the floor and just sat for a few minutes that way until I could get my head back on straight. Horrible. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911/20 "2013-08-23T03:25:19Z")
I heard some guy on NPR awhile back talking about an evolutionary advantage to a ‘playing dead’ response. It would convince an enemy that you weren’t a threat, freezing might get you overlooked where winding down your movement might get you spotted, that sort of thing. Not sure if I buy that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fainting-as-a-result-of-learning-shocking-news/666911.md?page=2)