How to pretend to faint

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Did you forget to study for the test? You were going to an event but now want to withdraw? Or do you have a role that needs to fake fainting? Whether for fun or to get out of a difficult situation, the following tips will help you fake fainting like the real thing.

Table of Contents

Learn how to mimic a real faint

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Learn about the causes of fainting. Syncope is a fairly common phenomenon. It can be harmless or life-threatening. If you’re faking fainting, it’s best to learn about the relatively non-dangerous reasons why people faint. Syncope is caused by decreased blood flow to the brain.

A harmless syncope can be caused by low blood pressure or a nervous system reflex that reduces blood flow to the brain. ^{[1] X Source of Research} Reflex activity of the nervous system can be the result of a stressful or emotional event, or a feeling of fear or pain.
For teenagers, fake syncope is the perfect excuse to avoid an event or exam, as it’s not uncommon for true but harmless syncope in this age group. Adults may also experience one or two harmless episodes of syncope a year; but if fainting episodes are more frequent, it could be a sign of a serious, life-threatening condition.

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Learn about the symptoms that occur with fainting. People with syncope can have a variety of symptoms that lead to loss of consciousness ^{[2] XTrusted Source National Health Service (UK) Go to source} , including hot flashes, nausea, dizziness or confusion, and breathing too fast. Patients may experience dizziness or weakness, tinnitus, or temporary hearing loss. These symptoms usually occur in people who have had a non-threatening syncope.

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Determine why you need to pretend to faint. Unless you fake fainting to act, you’ll have to come up with an explanation so that people don’t have to call an ambulance and you still succeed in this dramatic but harmless performance. Because low blood pressure and poor blood flow to the brain are often the cause of harmless syncope episodes, there are many situations that lead to this type of syncope. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Not eating breakfast or having meals too long apart can cause low blood pressure. Not drinking enough water can also cause dehydration and reduce blood flow to the brain.
If you happen to be outdoors or in a room that is too stuffy, you may complain that you feel hot. You can pretend to be going through a very stressful or emotional event. If you are often afraid of bugs or loud noises, you can also pretend to be so scared that you gasp, then pass out.
If you can get someone to join you in your plan to pretend to faint, you can ask them to hit or slap you so hard that you pass out. The scene is a bit dramatic and can have consequences for the person who helped you, but it would be a good reason for a fainting episode that doesn’t seem life-threatening.

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Sketch a plan to fake fainting. To minimize the adverse effects of fake syncope and achieve the desired results, you must plan carefully. The reason you want to fake fainting will determine where to do it. In terms of timing, you can have a little more control, but you need to be especially careful about how you do it so you don’t injure yourself or cause unwanted consequences.

What event are you trying to avoid? Is it a friend’s wedding? An exam that you haven’t studied for? Or are you going to have to sing in front of a crowd but don’t feel confident yet?
To minimize the reverse effect, you may want to fake fainting in front of a small number of people. Fainting in front of a lot of people puts you at risk of someone discovering the fake fainting, furthermore makes the situation worse than expected and prevents you from finishing the performance quickly.
You also probably don’t want to faint in the middle of an important event that affects others, like at a friend’s wedding, when someone is accepting an award, or in the middle of a test you’re trying to avoid.

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Know how your fake fainting will play out. Were you standing or sitting at the time? What symptoms can you most closely mimic? How will you fall when you fake fainting? How long are you going to pretend to be unconscious? Those are the questions you need to answer.

It is important to practice the pseudo-syncope. Avoid situations where you think you can do it, but when you’re acting, you’re suddenly afraid of falling and hitting your head, or you can’t help but laugh while pretending to be out of breath. You also need to make sure you fall as safely as possible to minimize the risk of injury.
Know exactly what you’re going to take to make the fake fainting scene in front of everyone go smoothly.

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Staging for the ending. You should only pretend to be unconscious for a few seconds, up to 20 seconds. When a person falls to the floor or leans against something that puts their head at the level of the heart, blood flow to the brain is restored almost immediately, bringing them back to consciousness. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

When you pretend to wake up from being unconscious for a while, don’t jump up right away and act like nothing happened. Sit there for a few minutes, because a real fainting person will need that much time to recover. You need to know this is important.
You shouldn’t pretend to faint during a time-limited event and plan to end the performance quickly afterwards. Also be prepared to explain that your fainting is not dangerous so you can get up and leave as quickly as possible.

Fainting in the crowd

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Set the stage for your fake fainting. Once you’ve prepared your fake fainting look like the real thing, now’s the time to do it. Once you’re in the place where you want to “fain,” you need to make sure all the conditions are in line with what you’ve planned.

Is the number of people present enough or are they exactly the people you want? Is the event you want to avoid still happening? Is the room too crowded?
When you see that everything is going as planned, move to the common area where you want to fake fainting. True syncope usually occurs fairly quickly after the onset of symptoms.
Make sure there are no dangerous objects around that can seriously injure you if you accidentally hit them when you fall. You also need to make sure not to bump into anyone.

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Complain about symptoms that occur with syncope. When you’re ready, start showing symptoms before you faint. This step should take a few minutes. If you’re going to use an excuse not to eat breakfast, say you’re hungry. If you are in a crowded and stuffy room, you may start to sound hot. If you’re walking, slow down, hold your head for a moment, and say you feel dizzy. You can blink or squint. Say you feel nauseous. Pretend to have a sudden loss of energy and complain of fatigue. Continue to show the last symptom for about 1-2 minutes.

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Step into the position will “fain”. When you show symptoms, move discreetly to the place that seems safest to fall. If you’re going to fall while sitting, pretend you’re too tired to stand and have to sit down. You might say you feel uncomfortable and need to drink water or get some fresh air.

You can ask someone to open the window. If there is no window and no water, just say that you want to sit down or want to go outside for a breather. Sit down for a while and slowly get up. Then staggered a bit and fell forward. Before taking this step, say something like “I just…” Remember not to finish the sentence, unless it is a short sentence.

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Pretend to faint. Make sure to fall safely. Don’t hit your head and injure yourself. If you’re standing, bend your knees and let your knees touch the ground before attempting to overturn. Make sure the action is fast enough but don’t act like you’ve been struck by lightning, or your performance will look very fake.

If you’re sitting, relax and imagine you’re actually passing out. Fall out of your chair like you can’t sit.
Try to land with your back thighs, not with your hips or sacrum. Then quickly drop your upper body down. Close your eyes and relax every muscle; you just need to relax.
As if I had no bones and fell to the floor like a pile of rags. That will look very real.

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Pretend to be unconscious for a few seconds. Lie on the ground. Remember not to stiffen, and if someone tries to lift your arm and shake it, relax completely. When they let go, you just let the arm fall. This is a common test. The unconscious person is unable to control the limbs. Someone will come running to see if you’re okay and that will lead to the performance you want.

Do not lie down for too long, or someone will call an ambulance. Unless you want this to happen, don’t lie still for more than 20 seconds.

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Open your eyes and take a deep breath. People who have fainted often wake up and don’t remember that they just passed out. Say that all you remember is the feeling of heat and the sight of the lights in the room fading.

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Slowly sit up and stand up, or have someone pull you up. After a while you can try to get up and shake a little so people think you might faint again and run to help. At this point, if people ask, you can start explaining that your fainting isn’t dangerous.

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Create a pretty quick ending. Rest for about 10 minutes to pretend to be recovering from fainting. When it’s time, ask permission to go home to rest or go to the doctor. If someone will offer to help bring you home, you can accept their kindness, or explain that you can go home safely on your own.

Advice

When you first open your eyes, don’t say it right away. Acting bewildered for a few seconds, then asked what happened. If you open your eyes and talk quickly, it won’t seem real.
If you can’t really fall, pretend to faint when one or two people are close enough to see you fall, but not too close to realize you’re pretending.
Try not to chuckle or laugh when you pretend to faint, or you’ll be exposed.
You may have to practice first to be able to do it like the real thing. Find a way to exercise that hurts a lot, such as falling on the carpet or in bed.
If you decide to fall forward, you should avoid reaching out to avoid stopping yourself. Since this is a reflex, it’s best to practice a lot before doing it.
Try pretending to fall against a wall so that the wall supports you a bit.
When falling in the open, be sure not to hit anyone or anything, as this could injure you or have unintended consequences.
Consider letting someone know about your fake syncope. They can help you when you fall to help avoid the risk of injury.
Remember to bend your knees so that your knees touch the ground before your torso falls.
Also, you must remember to close your eyes.
If you are sitting, try to hold your head and say you feel a little dizzy. Continue the performance and suddenly fall forward. Hit the table with a loud noise to get more attention.
You can invite one or two people to join the joke – but make sure not to tell too many people or people you don’t trust.

Warning

Do not fake fainting over and over again or overreact; people may think your condition is serious, and they may call an ambulance.
When “falling”, you remember to move quickly to the open space so as not to bump into someone or something, otherwise you may get injured. You always have to be careful!
If you immediately return to activities before fainting, you will look very suspicious. Sit with your head down between your knees for a moment.
Do not fake fainting to trick the police into arresting. You could be in big trouble.
Do not breathe too quickly unless you want someone to call an ambulance. If you’re going to fake it to this extent, you need to make your heart rate a little out of the ordinary.
Don’t ask “what’s up?” immediately after “waking up”. That looks cliché and contrived. However, a few minutes later you can ask and add “do I look weird?” or something similar.

Steps

Learn how to mimic a real faint

Fainting in the crowd

Advice

Warning

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