Was fainting from shock ever a common occurence, or was it merely a trope in fiction? Did people actually use to lose consciousness overcome by emotion, or have modern people simply become too desensitized for something like that to happen? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

Was fainting from shock ever a common occurence, or was it merely a trope in fiction? Did people actually use to lose consciousness overcome by emotion, or have modern people simply become too desensitized for something like that to happen?

by actually_crazy_irl

mimicofmodes

There is, as always, more to be said, but you may be interested in this related question which I answered some time ago:

How did fainting in the Victorian era become so gendered? What social conventions led to the loss of consciousness to be so strongly identified with women?