Passing Out

Before any of my friends panic, I haven't passed out recently. I'm fine. I'm typing this up because something (I can't recall what) got me to thinking about the different times I've passed out over the years and how they differed in sensation.

One of the funniest times was in college. No, it wasn't because of drinking. It was during my internship in my senior year. I was working for the Forest Service doing water quality surveys in preparation for stocking trout streams. Well, my partner and I were walking across a field and I was half-turned around, talking to him behind me. I didn't notice the large, framed opening in a fence I was approaching. (It's a opening used to help control cattle movement in and out of a field. I know there's a name for it, but danged if I can remember the word.) Anyway, I'm traveling at a good clip, a good strong walk. Well, I turn back around just in time for my mind to register "hey, woodgrain!" before I smack my forehead into the top part of the frame.

It was like something out of an old, slapstick movie. My feet kept going, my head stayed in one place, and I fell flat on my back. At least, that's what I am told. I don't actually know. The moment my head connected, I blacked out. BOOM. Wood grain, darkness, then waking up laying in the grass. Now, I know that I was only out for a few seconds but I still marvel at how quickly it happened. There was no transition from aware to unconscious, at all. It was like a light switch flipping off. Not at all like fainting.

I have fainted several times in my life and it's always the same. I start to gradually lose my senses. My vision starts to narrow down to a tunnel before I go completely blind. My hearing does much the same, sounds seeming to come to me from down a long tunnel, all echoey and faint. Then, after that, I simply lose control of my muscles. I feel like everything turns to jelly and I fall. But, the interesting thing is, while I am aware of the fall and feel the pressure of hitting the ground, I don't immediately feel the pain. That doesn't happen until I come out of the faint and my senses return. In fact, I don't think I've ever completely gone unconscious when I fainted. I'm still aware, on some level, but it's like I've lost part of my input. I can't see, hear, or control my body, but I'm still kinda-sorta in there and trying to struggle up and out of the darkness.

I know that the two feel different because they have different causes. But, I still find it fascinating! One is like a quick, hard reboot and the other is more like a system failure.