Everything about Unconsciousness totally explained
» See also Unconscious mind.
Unconsciousness, more appropriately referred to as loss of
consciousness or lack of consciousness, is a dramatic alteration of mental state that involves complete or near-complete lack of responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli. Being in a comatose state or
coma is an illustration of unconsciousness. Fainting due to a drop in blood pressure and a decrease of the oxygen supply to the brain is an illustration of a temporary loss of consciousness. Loss of consciousness must not be confused with
altered states of consciousness, such as
delirium (when the person is confused and only partially responsive to the environment), normal
sleep,
hypnosis, and other altered states in which the person responds to stimuli.
Loss of consciousness should
not be confused with the notion of the psychoanalytic
unconscious or cognitive processes (for example, implicit cognition) that take place outside of awareness.
Loss of consciousness may occur as the result of
traumatic brain injury, brain
hypoxia (for example, due to a brain
infarction or cardiac arrest), severe poisoning with drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system (for example, alcohol and other hypnotic or sedative drugs), severe fatigue, and other causes.
Law and medicine
In
jurisprudence, unconsciousness may entitle the
criminal defendant to the
defense of
automatism, an
excusing condition which allows a defendant to argue that they shouldn't be held
criminally liable for what would otherwise have been
actions or
omissions which broke the
law. Courts are called upon to consider whether "falling asleep" (especially while
driving or during any other safety-critical activity) can be an acceptable defense because natural sleep rarely overcomes an ordinary person without warning; however incidents related to
epileptic seizures,
neurological dysfunctions and
sleepwalking may be considered acceptable excusing conditions because the loss of control may not be foreseeable. For a detailed discussion, see
automatism (case law).
On the other hand, someone who is less than fully conscious can't give
consent to anything. This is relevant in the case of
sexual behavior (not allowed with such a person), and also in the case of a patient giving
informed consent with regard to starting or stopping a treatment, and
euthanasia.
In many countries, First Responders, EMT, or Paramedics must legally obtain consent from a conscious casualty during an emergency before they can assume patient care. If consent is denied, the EMS provider can legally do nothing. In the situation where the casualty is unconscious, in most cases, the EMS provider can assume patient care under the legal assumption of implied consent.
Religion
Some Christians believe that after death, the "soul" enters an unconscious state before resurrection at the
Last Judgment, a belief known informally as
soul sleep.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Unconsciousness'.
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