Most people have fainted for real before - but just how can you tell if someone has pretended to faint, or really fainted? Here is how.

Steps

  1. 1
    Watch to see if they bend their knees as they fall. When you faint, your body doesn't have enough strength to bend its knees, so if the person fainting bends their knees, you can be pretty sure they are a faker.
  2. 2
    See if they put their hands over their face. A regular fall wouldn't do this, since if they don't have enough strength to bend their knees, they wouldn't be able to move their hands.
    Advertisement
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
    Ask them why they fainted, and what could have caused them to get a headache. If they think for a couple of seconds, they did indeed fake it. If they restate the question or don't use contractions when talking (ex: didn't, won't, aren't, etc.), they are probably faking as well.
  6. Advertisement

Warnings

  • If you really can't tell the difference, just wait for the doctors to come. It's better to be safe than sorry when dealing with something this serious.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
Advertisement

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 9 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 33,987 times.
58 votes - 47%
Co-authors: 9
Updated: March 12, 2020
Views: 33,987
Categories: Feigning Illness
Advertisement