What is the Difference Between Blacking Out and Passing Out

The key difference between blacking out and passing out is that blacking out is the loss of memory while passing out is the loss of consciousness or not being able to be awakened.

Blacking out and passing out are two different conditions that are due to problems in the brain. Blacking out is normally due to intoxication, which leads to a brain malfunction. On the other hand, passing out (fainting or syncope) is due to a temporary drop in blood pressure as a result of not pumping enough blood to the brain.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Blacking Out
3. What is Passing Out
4. Similarities – Blacking Out and Passing Out
5. Blacking Out vs Passing Out in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Blacking Out vs Passing Out

What is Blacking Out?

Blacking out is a condition that causes loss of memory. It is a temporary condition that is characterized by a sense of lost time. This condition usually occurs when the level of alcohol in the human body is too high. Therefore, alcohol intoxication impairs the ability to form new memories. However, blacking out does not erase the memories that formed before intoxication. Moreover, as people drink more alcohol and their blood alcohol level rises, the rate and the length of memory loss will further increase. It is estimated that the chance of experiencing a blackout is about 50% when the blood alcohol level reaches up to 0.22 %.

The signs and symptoms of blacking out may include memory loss, difficulty in walking, talking, standing, impaired judgement, impaired vision, headaches, dry mouth, nausea, and diarrhea. Although blacking out is mainly caused by heavy alcohol consumption, it can also be caused by epileptic seizures, fainting, low blood pressure, psychogenic seizures, low blood sugar, certain medications, and oxygen restriction.

Blacking out can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram, MRI, or CT scan. Furthermore, treatment options for blacking out may include managing proper high blood pressure, medications such as anti-seizure drugs, fludrocortisone to stop fainting, and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

What is Passing Out?

Passing out is a medical condition that causes loss of consciousness. It is also known as fainting or syncope. The common signs and symptoms of this condition may include cold and clammy skin, light-headedness, sweating, stomach sickness, anxiety, weakness, falling down, headache, vision problems, ringing in the ears, and loss of control in muscles. Moreover, passing out is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure due to certain medications that treat high blood pressure, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, dehydration, neurological conditions such as seizure or stroke, a sudden drop in blood sugar, and unknown reasons.

Passing out can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood test, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), exercise stress test, transesophageal echocardiogram, and tilt table test. Furthermore, treatment options for passing out include medications (fludrocortisone acetate), compression stockings, providing more fluids and salts, leg exercises, pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), catheter ablation, and heart valve replacement.

What are the Similarities Between Blacking Out and Passing Out?

Blacking out and passing out are two different conditions that are due to problems in the brain.
Fainting can be a cause of blacking out.
Most of the time, these are temporary conditions.
Both conditions may have symptoms such as difficulty walking, headache, vision problems, etc.
Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination, blood test, and electrocardiogram.
They can be managed by specific medications.

What is the Difference Between Blacking Out and Passing Out?

Blacking out is the loss of memory while passing out is the loss of consciousness or not being able to be awakened. Thus, this is the key difference between blacking out and passing out. Furthermore, blacking out is caused by heavy alcohol consumption (intoxication), epileptic seizures, fainting, low blood pressure, psychogenic seizures, low blood sugar, certain medications, and oxygen restriction. On the other hand, passing out is caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure due to certain medications that treat high blood pressure, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, dehydration, neurological conditions such as seizure or stroke, a sudden drop in blood sugar, or unknown reasons.

The below infographic presents the differences between blacking out and passing out in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Blacking Out vs Passing Out

Blacking out and passing out are two associated conditions. This is because passing out can be a cause of blacking out. Moreover, blacking out and passing out are two different conditions that are due to problems in the brain. Blacking out is the loss of memory while passing out is the loss of consciousness or not being able to be awakened. So, this summarizes the difference between blacking out and passing.