British Medical Journal reports that television soaps or serials give a false picture about coma survival and recovery rates in coma patients. Researchers compiled 10 years data of sufferings felt by coma patients and found that the rate of survival and recovery shown in television soaps is not true as the study show that only 8% of coma patients in soaps died during coma for instance, compared with 50% upwards in real life.
The recovery rate is also controversial, in which the soaps show that patients survived from coma recovered from the disease which does not occur in real life. Such unrealistic outcomes have implications for viewers’ expectations when dealing with family members or partners in comas, or if recovering from comas themselves. The television soaps increase the unrealistic expectations of the family members of coma patients regarding their survival and recovery which leads to more expectations from doctors which sometimes leads to hatred against them. Researchers feels that the television soap industry should show the reality of the recovery and survival of coma patients which would help in more understanding about coma to public people.Source: Eurekalert
