1.
What is a near-death
experience? |
A near-death
experience (NDE) refers to personal
experiences associated with
impending death, encompassing
multiple possible sensations
including
detachment from the body,
feelings of levitation, total
serenity, security, warmth, the
experience of absolute dissolution,
and
the presence of a light. These
phenomena are usually reported after
an individual has been pronounced
clinically dead or very close to
death. Many NDE reports, however,
originate from
events that are not life-threatening.
With recent developments in cardiac
resuscitation techniques, the number
of reported NDEs has increased.
Although
most people who have come close to
death say they remember nothing, a
third or more may later report that
"something happened" such as a NDE.
There are also many factors that can
trigger a
NDE.
No two
NDEs are exactly identical,
but within a number of experiences
a pattern becomes evident.
Researchers have identified the
common elements that define
near-death experiences.
Bruce Greyson argues that the
general features of the experience
include impressions of being outside
one's physical body, visions of
deceased relatives and religious
figures, and transcendence of egotic
and spatiotemporal boundaries.
Kenneth
Ring subdivided the NDE on a
five-stage continuum. The
subdivisions were: (Stage 1)
feelings of peace and contentment,
(Stage 2) body separation, (Stage 3)
entering a profound darkness, (Stage
4) seeing an unearthly light, and
(Stage 5) entering the light. Ring
stated that 60% experienced Stage 1,
but only 10% experienced stage 5 of
entering the light.
Many
different elements have been
reported, though the exact elements
tend to correspond with the
cultural, philosophical, or
religious beliefs of the person
experiencing it. The traits of a
classic NDE are as follows
a. |
Feeling
that the "self"
has
left the body and is
hovering overhead. Sometimes
a "silver
cord" is seen connected
to the body. Sometimes the
person may later be able to
describe who was where and
what happened, sometimes
in detail. Some
people who were born blind
can see while out of
their body.
|
b. |
Moving through a
dark space or
tunnel and having a
sense of
timelessness. Sometimes
the
Earth can be seen from outer
space.
|
c. |
Experiencing intensely
powerful emotions,
ranging from
bliss to
terror. Sometimes
heavenly music is heard. |
d. |
Encountering a
light. It is usually
described as golden, or
white, and as being magnetic
and
loving; occasionally it
is perceived as a reflection
of the fires of
hell.
|
e. |
Receiving some variant of
the message, "It
is not yet your time"
from a heavenly being by
means of
mental telepathy.
|
f. |
Meeting others; may be
deceased loved ones,
recognized from life or not;
sacred beings;
pets;
guides;
angels;
orbs;
unidentified entities
and/or "Beings
of Light"; sometimes
symbols from one's own
or other
religious traditions.
|
g. |
A
life review, seeing and
re-experiencing major and
trivial events of one's
life, sometimes from the
perspective of the other
people involved, and coming
to some conclusion about the
adequacy of that life and
what
changes are needed.
|
h. |
Having a sense of
understanding everything,
of knowing
how the universe works.
|
i. |
Reaching a boundary – a
cliff, fence, water, some
kind of barrier that may not
be crossed if one is to
return to life.
|
j. |
In
some cases, entering a
city or
library or
receiving station.
|
k. |
Rarely, receiving previously
unknown information about
one's life – i.e., adoption
or hidden parentage,
deceased siblings. Some
bring back scientific
discoveries. Some bring
back
knowledge concerning the
future. Some bring back
knowledge of past lives.
Some bring back information
concerning
astrology.
|
l. |
Decision to return may be
voluntary or involuntary. If
voluntary, it usually
associated with
unfinished responsibilities.
|
m. |
Returning to
life and to the body.
Afterward, an increase in
spirituality may be
found. Often,
dramatic changes within
the person are discovered.
|
n. |
Some interesting facts
concerning NDEs are: A group
of people can die together
and
share the same NDE. Some
NDEs have occurred when
the brain is verified to be
dead. NDEs have been
occurring for
thousands of years. They
happen to people of all
backgrounds:
atheists,
apostles,
children,
suicides,
Buddhists,
gays,
Hollywood stars,
Muslims,
drug users,
Jews,
fighter pilots,
psychics,
alien abductees,
epileptics,
Christians,
meditators,
people having orgasms,
and
dreamers.
|
o. |
Most near-death experiences
are pleasant, but others are
deeply frightening. For
additional information about
frightening near-death
experiences, contact
IANDS
(International Association
for Near-Death Studies) for
a special publication.
|
Popular
interest in NDEs became widespread
by
Raymond Moody's 1975 book
Life After Life and the founding
of the
International Association for
Near-Death Studies (IANDS) in
1981.
The
Gallup Organization and
near-death research studies have
estimated some 13 million adult
near-death experiences in the U.S.
Add
children's NDEs, and all
experiences worldwide, and the
figure would be much larger.
Near-death experiences are uncommon,
but not rare.
Some
commentators claim the number of
near-death experiencers may be
underestimated. People who have had
a near-death experience may not be
comfortable discussing the
experience with others, especially
when the NDE is understood as a
paranormal incident or
an experience of hell. NDEs are
among the phenomena studied in the
fields of psychology, psychiatry,
and hospital medicine.
No one knows
why some people do and others do not
report a near-death experience under
similar circumstances. Near-death
experiences occur to sane and
ordinary people all over the world,
people of all religions, races,
backgrounds, and ages.
More than
a dozen theories have been put
forward to explain the near-death
experience and its physical causes,
but none of them singly or together
fits all cases.
NDEs have
been described by some medical
professionals in medical journals as
brain anomalies such as (a)
neurotransmitters flooding the dying
brain, (b)
hallucinations, (c)
anoxia, (d)
cortical disinhibition,
(e)
right temporal lobe stimulation,
(f)
depersonalization, (g)
memory of birth, (h)
endorphins, (i)
disassociation, (j)
REM state intrusion, and even
(k)
Darwin's theory of evolution.
But NDE experts in the field of NDE
studies have ruled out all such
brain anomalies as being the cause
of NDEs; even though the cause(s) of
NDEs have nothing to do with the
question of whether they are real
afterlife experiences or not. Thus,
the
Afterlife Hypothesis may be
the simplest explanation
accounting for NDEs. Developments in
quantum physics have made some brain
anomaly theories of the NDE outmoded
as the new physics can account for
elements found in NDEs such as
(a)
quantum superposition,
(b)
non-locality, (c)
a holographic universal
interconnectedness,
(d) the
many-worlds and (e)
many-minds interpretations,
(f)
the zero-point field, and
the concept of subjectivity just
to name a few.
Clinical
circumstances associated with NDEs
include
cardiac arrest in
myocardial infarction (clinical
death); shock in postpartum loss
of blood or in perioperative
complications; septic or
anaphylactic shock;
electrocution; coma resulting from
traumatic brain damage;
intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral
infarction;
attempted suicide; near-drowning
or asphyxia;
apnea; and serious depression.
In contrast to common belief,
Kenneth Ring argues that attempted
suicides do not lead more often to
unpleasant NDEs than unintended
near-death situations.
The
distressing aspects of some NDEs are
discussed more closely by
Bruce Greyson and
Nancy Bush.
Karlis Osis and his colleague
Erlendur Haraldsson argued that
the content of near death
experiences does not vary by
culture, except for the identity of
the figures seen during the
experiences.
Like
other things which have no rational
explanation at the present time,
near-death experiences may at first
seem "nutty." A near-death
experience is a genuine experience –
an event which one individual
experiences and remembers – and it
has consequences, but it cannot yet
be explained in terms of what we
usually think of as "normal."
Individual cases of NDEs in
literature have been identified into
ancient times including
Plato's account of Er.
In the
19th century a few efforts moved
beyond studying individual cases -
one privately done by
Mormon pioneers and one in
Switzerland. Up to 2005, 95% of
world cultures have been documented
making some mention of NDEs.
Modern
research of NDEs have recently
involved the academic discipline of
neuroscience as reported from
the NDEs of
Dr. Eben Alexander M.D.
(neurosurgeon),
Dr. David Eagleman
(neuroscientist),
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
(neuroanatomist), and the research
of
Dr. Mario Beauregard
(neuroscientist). But in the past,
neuroscience in general tended to
ignore NDE research because brain
activity scans are not typically
performed when a patient is
undergoing attempts at emergency
resuscitation.
Existing
research is mainly in the
disciplines of medicine, psychology
and psychiatry. Interest in this
field of study was originally
spurred by the writings of
Jess E. Weiss (combat veteran
who collected near-death testimony
from soldiers in World War II),
Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
(psychiatrist),
Dr. George Ritchie
(psychiatrist), and
Dr. Raymond Moody Jr.
(psychologist and MD). Moody's book
Life After Life, which was
released in 1975, brought much
public attention to the topic of
NDEs. This was soon to be followed
by the establishment of the
International Association for
Near-death Studies (IANDS
) in
1981. IANDS is an international
organization that encourages
scientific research and education on
the physical, psychological, social,
and spiritual nature and
ramifications of near-death
experiences. Among its publications
are the peer-reviewed
Journal of Near-Death Studies
and the quarterly newsletter
Vital Signs.
Dr. Bruce Greyson
(psychiatrist),
Dr. Kenneth Ring (psychologist),
and
Dr. Michael Sabom
(cardiologist), helped to launch the
field of
Near-Death Studies and
introduced the study of near-death
experiences to the academic setting.
From 1975 to 2005, some 2500 self
reported individuals in the US had
been reviewed in retrospective
studies of the phenomena
with an additional 600 outside
the US in the West, and 70 in Asia.
Prospective studies, reviewing
groups of individuals and then
finding who had an NDE after some
time and costing more to do, had
identified 270 individuals. In all,
close to 3500 individual cases
between 1975 and 2005 had been
reviewed in one or another study.
And all these studies were carried
out by some 55 researchers or teams
of researchers.
Greyson
and Ring developed statistical tools
usable in clinical studies of NDEs.
Major contributions to the field
include Ring's construction of a
"Weighted Core Experience Index" to
measure the depth of the near-death
experience, and Greyson's
construction of the "Near-death
experience scale"
to differentiate between subjects
that are more or less likely to have
experienced an NDE. The latter scale
is also, according to its author,
clinically useful in differentiating
NDEs from organic brain syndromes
and nonspecific stress responses.
The NDE-scale was later found to fit
the Rasch rating scale model.
Greyson has also brought attention
to the near-death experience as a
focus of clinical attention, while
Melvin Morse,
head of the Institute for the
Scientific Study of Consciousness,
and colleagues have investigated
near-death experiences in a
pediatric population.
Neurobiological factors in the
experience have been investigated by
researchers in the field of medical
science and psychiatry. Among the
researchers and commentators who
tend to emphasize a naturalistic and
neurological base for the experience
are the British
psychologist
Susan Blackmore (1993), with her
"dying brain hypothesis" and the
founding publisher of
Skeptic magazine,
Michael Shermer (1998). More
recently, cognitive neuroscientists
Jason Braithwaite (2008) from the
University of Birmingham and
Sebastian Dieguez (2008) and Olaf
Blanke (2009) from the Ecole
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,
Switzerland have published accounts
presenting evidence for the
brain-based nature of near death
experiences.
In
September 2008, it was announced
that 25 U.K. and U.S. hospitals
would examine
near-death studies in 1,500
heart attack patient-survivors. The
three-year study, coordinated by
Sam Parnia at Southampton
University, hopes to determine if
people without heartbeat or brain
activity can have an
out-of-body experience
with
veridical visual perceptions. This
study follows on from an earlier
18-month pilot project. On a July
28, 2010 interview about a recent
lecture at Goldsmiths,
Parnia (internal medicine physician
by training with specialty in
pulmonology, critical care, and
sleep medicine) asserts that
"evidence is now suggesting that
mental and cognitive processes may
continue for a period of time after
a death has started" and describes
the process of death as "essentially
a global stroke of the brain.
Therefore like any stroke process
one would not expect the entity of
mind / consciousness to be lost
immediately". He also expresses his
disagreement with the term 'near
death experiences' because "the
patients that we study are not near
death, they have actually died and
moreover it conjures up a lot of
imprecise scientific notions, due to
the fact that [death] itself is a
very imprecise term".
The top
peer-reviewed journals in
neuroscience, such as
Nature Reviews Neuroscience,
Brain Research Reviews,
Biological Psychiatry,
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
are generally not publishing
research on NDEs. Among the
scientific and academic journals
that have published, or are
regularly publishing, new research
on the subject of NDEs are
Journal of Near-Death Studies,
Journal of Nervous and Mental
Disease, British Journal of
Psychology, American Journal of
Disease of Children, Resuscitation,
The Lancet, Death Studies, and
the Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Some researchers have complained
about the resistance of the
scientific establishment to the
implications of NDEs.
The first
clinical study of
NDEs in
cardiac arrest patients was
conducted by
Pim van Lommel, a cardiologist
from the Netherlands, and his team (
The Lancet,
2001). Of 344 patients who were
successfully resuscitated after
suffering cardiac arrest, 62 (18%)
expressed an intraoperative memory
and among these, 41 (12%)
experienced core NDEs, which
included
out-of-body experiences. The
patients remembered details of their
conditions during their cardiac
arrest despite being clinically dead
with flatlined brain stem activity.
Van Lommel concluded his findings
supports the theory of
consciousness continuing despite
lack of neuronal activity in the
brain. Van Lommel hypothesized how
continuity of consciousness may be
achievable if the brain acts as a
receiver filtering the cosmic
information bombarding it in a
process where memories and other
conscious information are stored
just as radio, television and
internet information existed
independently of the instruments
receiving it.
Van Lommel
et al., reported that 62 of the 344
patients with cardiac arrest
reported some recollection. Of these
62, 50% reported an awareness or
sense of being dead, 24% said that
they had had an out-of-body
experience, 31% recalled moving
through a tunnel, whilst 32%
described meeting with deceased
people. Moreover, while near-death
experiencers commonly report
feelings of peace and bliss, only
56% associated the experience with
such positive emotions. No patients
reported a distressing or
frightening NDE.
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7. Don't near-death
experiences prove that there
is life after death? |
Certainly
this is a very popular
interpretation, although there is no
"proof" in a statistical sense and
no consensus on what this may mean.
A more cautious expression is that
near-death experiences suggest that
some aspect of human consciousness
may continue after physical death.
At this time, no one can demonstrate
whether this is true.
However,
there is a "mountain" of scientific
evidence
suggestive
of consciousness surviving bodily
death include: (a)
verified out-of-body perception
suggestive of mind-body dualism,
(b)
NDE perception of people born blind,
(c)
the vivid retaining of NDE memories
which are not possible with brain
anomalies,
(d)
the dramatic after-effects resulting
from NDEs which do not occur
with brain anomalies, (e)
unbiased young children having the
same experience as adults,
(f)
scientific discoveries resulting
from NDEs, (g)
verified visions of the future
given to experiencers, (h)
their absolute conviction of their
NDE being a real afterlife
experience, plus the many
supporting scientific fields of
discovery such as
(i)
consciousness research,
(j)
deathbed visions, (k)
dream research, (l)
out-of-body research,
(m)
after-death communications research,
(n)
reincarnation research,
(o)
hypnotic regression, and
(p)
remote viewing. Note that this
is an incomplete list.
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|
8. Are the people who have
near-death experiences very
religious? |
People
who report near-death experiences
are no better or worse – and no more
or less religious – than in any
other cross-section of the
population. They come from many
religious backgrounds and from the
ranks of agnostics and even
atheists. The experience seems more
closely related to a person's life
afterwards than to what it was
before.
A person who has just had a
near-death experience probably has
very mixed feelings. One person may
express anger or grief at being
resuscitated; another struggles to
stay awake. Other typical
reactions:
a.
Fear that the near-death
experience was a psychotic
episode.
b.
Disorientation because
reality has shifted.
c.
Euphoria, feeling special
or "chosen."
d.
Withdraw to ponder the
experience.
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10. Does a near-death
experience really change a
person's life? |
Almost every
near-death experiencer reports a
changed understanding of what life
is all about. The changes may be
numerous and almost impossible to
describe or explain.
Besides losing the fear of death, a
person may also lose interest in
financial or career success.
"Getting ahead" may seem like an odd
game that the person chooses not to
play any more, even if it means
giving up friendships. This can be
hard on some families.
Becoming more loving is important to
most near-death experiencers, though
they may have difficulty explaining
what they mean by that. They may
seem to love everyone
indiscriminately, with no personal
favorites.
Religious observance may increase or
lessen, but a deepened belief in
God, or a "Higher Power," is almost
certain. People say, "Before, I
believed; now I know."
Some
people find they have an increase in
intuitive or psychic abilities. This
is a common stage in Christian,
Jewish, and other major religious
traditions when an individual spends
much time in deep prayer and
meditation. If this becomes a
problem, the IANDS
office can suggest a source of
information.
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|
11.
I had one of these
experiences, but no one told
me I was in danger. Was my
doctor lying to me?
|
Probably
not. The "near-death experience" was
named in 1975 by
Dr. Raymond Moody to describe
the clinical death experiences of
the people in his book,
Life After Life. However,
although being close to death is a
reliable "trigger", identical
experiences happen under very
different circumstances, even to
people who are in no way ill. The
best known are the experiences of
saints and
religious mystics.
Deep prayer,
meditation, and even
mirror-gazing can produce events
like near-death experiences, as can
other kinds of
altered states of consciousness.
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12.
When
my mother was dying, we
thought she was
hallucinating, but what she
described sounds like a
near-death experience. Could
this be true? |
People
who are dying often mention seeing a
wonderful light
or a landscape they want to enter.
They may talk with people who are
invisible to everyone else, or they
may look radiant and at peace. Read
the book by
Maggie Callahan,
Final Gifts, for more about "Deathbed
visions."
You are not
alone, and you have not lost your
mind. A near-death experience is an
extraordinary experience, but it
happens to normal people.
You may
want to tell the world about your
near-death experience, or you may
want to think about it, possibly for
a long time, before trying to say
anything. You will probably feel
frustrated trying to find words to
describe it, and fearful that no one
else will understand. If you have
difficulty with aftereffects, try
reading
P.M.H.
Atwater's
books,
Coming Back to Life, or
Beyond the Light.
When you
first decide to talk about the
experience, choose a person who is a
good listener, someone with whom you
are comfortable. Should they have
difficulty with the idea, reading
Dr. Raymond Moody's book,
Life After Life, may help them
feel more comfortable with
near-death experiences. If you want
to talk with
another near-death experiencer,
or someone who will not need too
many explanations, contact
IANDS for the name of someone
reliable.
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14. What if someone I know
has had a near-death
experience? |
It is as if
the other person has returned from a
country you have never visited and
cannot even imagine. The best thing
you can do is listen. Simply being
with the person and letting him talk
will be more helpful than you may
think; you are not expected to have
answers or opinions. There are many
interpretations of near-death
experiences, and only the individual
can decide the meaning of his/her
particular experience.
A
near-death experience is not a
psychotic episode, but its effects
are often powerful. Some people
adjust easily afterwards, while
others find the experience deeply
troubling or are unable to get on
with daily life. In these cases,
professional help may be needed for
the person to get back on track. If
you need help finding a qualified
therapist,
IANDS
may be able to suggest ways of
finding someone trustworthy.
Read the
testimonies of the many
near-death experiences
and visit the IANDS
website. A
listing of books available on
the subject is also available here.
Check your local library, or
bookstore, for the title of
autobiographical accounts of
near-death experiences as well as
for other book titles. Also, look
for
magazine articles.
There are
IANDS-affiliated groups all over
the world that meet regularly to
offer information and support about
near-death experiences, with more
groups forming. Some are open to
near-death experiencers only; others
welcome the public. Ask the
IANDS office whether there is a
group near you. For members living
where there is no group,
IANDS networking service
connects near-death experiencers and
people with similar interests.
Also, visit my
Questions and Answers page.
|