The Difference Between Stupor and Coma

The terms “stupid state” and “stupor,” which Ellen White uses to describe her condition during the period following her accident, have not changed significantly during the past century and a half. ^{7Robley Dunglison, M.D., LL.D., Dictionary of Medical Science (Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea, 1868), p. 923, “STUPOR… Diminished activity of the intellectual faculties, often amounting to lethargy.”} These terms describe a mental condition marked by greatly diminished responsiveness to stimuli, but from which a person can be aroused by vigorous stimulation to make some appropriate or semi-appropriate responses. However, when the stimulus is discontinued, the person again lapses into a state of unresponsiveness. When the person recovers from this state, he is usually amnesic regarding the stimulated awakenings.ViOSe 11.2

Coma, on the other hand, is a state of unconsciousness, from which it is not possible to arouse a person to make any appropriate or semi-appropriate responses. When this condition is caused by an intracranial hemorrhage, such as an epidural hematoma or a subdural hematoma, as Hodder ^{8Hodder, p. 32.} and Couperus ^{9Couperus, p. 18.} suggest happened to Ellen, it is rapidly fatal unless the patient is treated neurosurgically to remove the blood clot. So, the suggestion that Ellen White had either of these hemorrhages is not consistent with available records and known facts.ViOSe 11.3