Can you self induce a coma

They make every effort to only use this option for as long as they need to. David Biello is a contributing editor at Scientific American. Follow David Biello on Twitter.

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Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. See Subscription Options Already a subscriber? Create Account See Subscription Options. Someone goes into a coma because either their brain or body has suffered serious damage, and there is no guarantee you will regain consciousness. Why would you want to go into a coma anyway? You can suffer a lot of medical complications from pneumonia to bedsores. Not fun stuff! You just have to know that things will get better.

Take a break from the stressfull things that are bothering you, take a vacation or something. There are many other ways then risking your health trying to induce a coma.

Just think of all the life you could be missing out on! Just give it some time. Hope everything works out for the best! I'd rather live in a fantasy dream world than this harsh world I'll actually enjoy it. Just take one dose of sleeping pills, then take another as soon as you wake up.

The hospital staff also tries to prevent bedsores in someone who is comatose. Bedsores are open sores on the body that come from lying in one place for too long without moving at all. It can be very upsetting and frustrating for a person's family to see someone they love in a coma, and they may feel scared and helpless.

But they can help take care of the person. Taking time to visit the hospital and read to, talk to, and even play music for the patient are important because it's possible that the person may be able to hear what's going on, even if he or she can't respond.

Usually, a coma does not last more than a few weeks. Sometimes, however, a person stays in a coma for a long time — even years — and will be able to do very little except breathe on his or her own. Most people do come out of comas. Some of them are able to return to the normal lives they had before they got sick. The person's eyes will be closed and they'll appear to be unresponsive to their environment.

They won't normally respond to sound or pain, or be able to communicate or move voluntarily, and basic reflexes, such as coughing and swallowing, will be greatly reduced.

They may be able to breathe on their own, although some people require a machine to help them breathe. Over time, the person may start to gradually regain consciousness and become more aware. Some people will wake up after a few weeks, while others may go into a vegetative or minimally conscious state. Read more about disorders of consciousness. Doctors assess a person's level of consciousness using a tool called the Glasgow Coma Scale on Headway's website.

This level is monitored constantly for signs of improvement or deterioration. The Glasgow Coma Scale assesses 3 things:. Most people in a coma will have a total score of 8 or less. A lower score means someone may have experienced more severe brain damage and could be less likely to recover.