Mike in unconscious state: this gives pause (5)
I believe the answer is:
comma
'gives pause' is the definition.
'comma' can be an answer for 'pause' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'gives' bit.
'mike in unconscious state' is the wordplay.
'mike' becomes 'M' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'unconscious state' becomes 'coma' (I've seen this before).
'm' inserted into 'coma' is 'COMMA'.
'this' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for comma that I've seen before include "Puncuation mark" , "Kind of butterfly" , "Mark for smallest division of a sentence" , "Clause-separating punctuation" , "Brief stop" .)