Near-death Research Articles

Personality traits and pattern of beliefs of near-death(-like) experiencers.

Little is known about the potential personality and psychological predictors of near-death experiences (NDEs), and fewer yet those of near-death-like experiences (NDEs-like; similar phenomenology reported after a non-life-threatening context). This study investigated whether personality traits (Openness, Extraversion, Pleasantness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism), dissociative experiences, Fantasy proneness, disposition toward auditory hallucinations, absorption trait, and endorsement of paranormal and spiritual beliefs could be associated with the recall of NDEs(-like). To this aim, we invited four groups of people to retrospectively fill in questionnaires assessing the following factors: NDE experiencers (n = 63), NDE(-like) experiencers (n = 31), controls with a life-threatening situation but no NDE(-like) (n = 43), and controls without a life-threatening situation or an NDE(-like) (n = 44). We carried out univariate analyses for each factor and then performed a multiple regression analysis and a discriminant analysis. The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the endorsement of spiritual beliefs was associated with the recall of NDEs-like while Openness and Fantasy proneness were associated with the recall of NDEs. The discriminant analysis showed that these variables produce 35% of correct classification. Albeit retrospective, these results pave the way for future research on psychological predictors of NDEs(-like) by highlighting the influence of Spirituality, Openness, and Fantasy proneness on these phenomena.

Contributions to the Phenomenology of Heightened Reality

This article analyzes the experience of heightened reality, whereby subjects feel or think that what they are facing is reality itself, or somehow a ‘more real reality’, a hyperreality. My main examples for this specific kind of metacognitive supervision are from reports about the near-death experience, the psychedelic experience and the mystical experience. I will interpret accounts of such experiences using first of all philosophical phenomenology and theories of sense of reality. I criticize and try to complement Martin Fortier’s model of the plural taxonomy of sense of reality. In addition, I propose a triadic model of the experience of reality and, based on the analysis of the testimonies of heightened reality, I have developed a triadic model, according to which one dimension of reality experience is merely heightened reality, the other two being self-evident immersion in reality and the irruptive suspension of ordinary experience.

The living experience of surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and spiritual meaning making.

To understand the meaning of surviving out of hospital cardiac arrest and its aftereffects among Greek-speaking survivors. Hermeneutical phenomenological method based on Martin Heidegger's philosophy. Eight Greek-speaking out of hospital cardiac arrest survivors were recruited using purposive sampling method. Data collection and analysis using the seven stages of hermeneutic analysis described by Diekelman. Data were collected through semi-structured personal interviews with open-ended questions. Analysis revealed five themes: 'The unexpected attack', 'Experiencing a different world: Transformation of Body, Time, Emotion and Sensation', 'Restoration of the re-embodied self', 'Life transformation' and 'Personal transformation'. The themes are commensurate with transcultural components of Near-Death Experiences. Surviving out of hospital cardiac arrest was perceived as a 'divine gift' and a chance to continue 'living in a more conscious and meaningful way'. Despite participants' physical and psychosocial challenges, the narratives highlighted a newly acquired deep appreciation for the joy of life, living and others. Construction of meaning and a heightened spirituality seem central in reconstructing life after out of hospital cardiac arrest survivors. Out of hospital cardiac arrest survivors reflected and described in-depth on their lived experiences of out of hospital cardiac arrest through a 60- to 90-min interview. In addition, the participants provided their feedback on the interpretation of the findings, confirmed the study findings, and ensured that the analysis reflected aspects of their individual experiences and were true to them.

Near-Death Experiences and Emergent Dualism

ABSTRACT Since the Enlightenment, reductionism has been an important part of the development of science and civilization. The process of abstracting features of the world and reducing them to their most basic components has greatly increased our grasp of the physical and chemical rules that govern physical reality at all levels. However, central aspects of reductionism have been challenged with the growing literature on religious/spiritual experiences after near-death experiences (NDEs) that challenge standard reductionistic models of the brain. In this paper, an alternative model of emergent dualism is proposed for examining NDEs and the mind.

Rating the Persuasiveness of Empirical Evidence for the Survival of Consciousness After Bodily Death

Objective. Throughout history and across all cultures, many people have believed in some form of afterlife. Recent surveys show that most people worldwide believe they will survive after bodily death. Those who do not believe would require substantial empirical evidence to influence their skepticism. This study’s objective was to evaluate what types of evidence might persuade academic professionals that some aspect of consciousness survives after bodily death. Method. We surveyed academic professionals and collected demographic and professional background data, personal confidence in survival, and paranormal belief ratings. Respondents also rated the persuasiveness of 10 relevant experiments and the likelihood of their success. These data were analyzed over all participants and partitioned by confidence in survival. Results. Professional academics (N = 442) completed the survey. Gender was a significant predictor of confidence in survival, paranormal belief, and many persuasiveness ratings, with females having higher scores than males. Older age was a positive predictor for persuasiveness ratings of a proposed experiment involving after-death communication. Confidence in survival and paranormal beliefs were highly correlated. The highest persuasiveness ratings were for a controlled, prospective experiment that resulted in veridical out-of-body perceptions during a near-death experience, a mediumship experiment, and a reincarnation experiment. The least persuasive proposed experiment was survival in the form of computer-based artificial intelligence. Conclusion. Academics hold a wide range of beliefs and confidence in survival. Successful experiments designed to test for survival may influence skeptics’ prior beliefs.

Narrative therapy in trauma care

The telling of stories is how we make sense of our lives. With trauma, our understandings of our stories are dramatically altered and somewhat reduced. This is particularly so when a patient has a near-death experience, multiple serious injuries and must be passive in order to survive. There is a need to rebuild a narrative in which the person is active, congruent and competent. My story starts with falling off a balcony on the first night of a holiday. Initially I adapted poorly to the loss of agency that is essential to recovery. I clashed with the intensive-care nurses as I fought to protect myself from pain within a state of sedation, delirium and confusion. Trauma deeply disturbs and destabilises a person’s sense of themselves. It can permanently impair many facets of our lives and damage our relationships to family and community. The collaborative and interactional process of narrative therapy can rebuild agency and empower trauma survivors. It can help prevent the patient from extending trauma-related vulnerability, damage and passivity into the future. It can assist with processing trauma and gently fostering new stories to incorporate the uniqueness, depth and complexity of trauma and human lives.

An encounter with the self: A thematic and content analysis of the DMT experience from a naturalistic field study.

N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in an experience that have significant implications for consciousness and its neural correlates, especially given the "disconnected consciousness" suggested by the "breakthrough" DMT state. Its increasing usage and clinical trial indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the experience's qualitative content, over and above the phenomenological structure. This is particularly in light of the intensely pervasive effects of DMT occasions in all dimensions of the self, which are often ontologically challenging yet potentially transformative. This is the second report on the first naturalistic field study of DMT use exploring its qualitative analysis. Screened, healthy, anonymized, and experienced DMT users were observed during their non-clinical use of the drug at home (40-75-mg inhaled). In-depth semi-structured interviews, inspired by the micro-phenomenological technique, were employed immediately after their experience. This study reports on the thematic and content analysis of one major domain of the breakthrough experiences elicited, the "self"; where analyses of the "other" were previously reported. A total of 36 post-DMT experience interviews with mostly Caucasian (83%) men (eight women) of a mean of 37 years were predominantly inductively coded. Invariably, profound and highly intense experiences occurred. The first overarching category comprised the onset of effects, encompassing super-ordinate themes including sensory, emotion and body, and space-time shifts; the second category comprised bodily effects, encompassing themes including pleasurable, neutral/both, and uncomfortable; the third category comprised the sensorial effects, encompassing open-eye, visual, and cross-modal and other; the fourth comprised the psychological effects, encompassing memory and language, awareness and sense of self, and time distortions; and the fifth comprised the emotional effects, encompassing positive, neither/both, and challenging experiences. Many further subthemes also illuminate the rich content of the DMT experience. The present study provides a systematic and nuanced analysis of the content of the breakthrough DMT state pertaining to one's personal and self-referential experiences of the body, senses, psychology, and emotions. The resonances both with previous DMT studies and other types of extraordinary experiences, such as the alien abduction, shamanic and near-death experiences, are also elaborated upon. Putative neural mechanisms and their promise as a psychotherapeutic agent, especially owing to deep emotional impact, are discussed.

Slower, deeper, wider: what soulful aging means to me

ABSTRACT Recently retired as a professor of gerontology, the author reflects on his own experience of aging. Drawing on the sub-field of narrative gerontology, his area of specialization, and on age-related thoughts by writers like Florida Scott-Maxwell, Carl Jung, and Thomas Moore, he weaves together research concerning Gerotranscendence, Transpersonal Gerontology, and the transformative effects of so-called Near Death Experiences to articulate a vision of aging as, itself, a near-ing death experience. The result is a highly personal meditation on “soulful aging” as a matter of journeying slower, deeper, and wider into the intriguing landscape of later life.

The Near-Death Experience and Suicidal Ideation.

The near-death experience (NDE) most generally refers to a state of altered consciousness with various features that can occur during real or presumed near-death circumstances and/or life-threatening incidents. Some NDEs are associated with a nonfatal suicide attempt. This paper discusses how a belief by suicide attempters that their NDEs are a true portrayal of objective spiritual reality can at least in some cases be positively associated with a persistence or increase of suicidal ideation and on occasion lead to further suicide attempts, while also exploring why at other times such a belief may reduce the risk of suicide. The formulation of suicidal ideation associated with NDEs among some of those who did not initially try to kill themselves is also explored. Various examples related to NDEs and suicidal ideation are provided and discussed. Furthermore, this paper also offers some theoretical insights related to this matter and points out some specific therapeutic concerns based on this discussion.

Personal Construction of the “Ego”: A Prenatal Discovery of the Body

For Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, the Unconscious is characterized by the fact that it is born from the repression of impulses. For Carl Jung, on the other hand, the Unconscious is made up of everything that is not conscious. According to Jung: “It is inherent to reality and to the communication of the conscious with the Unconscious, and allows the becoming of the individual”. He called it “collective” because its pictorial manifestations, the archetypes, were common to all human beings. For 20 years he searched, with the physicist Wolfgang Pauli, for an extra-personal origin of the Unconscious, called “synchronicity”. The study of near-death experiences sheds new light on this question: the last image the dying man/woman sees would be himself a few weeks before his birth. The ego is believed to be built in the fetal stage around the discovery of the body, and to remain unchanged until brain death. Personalism would describe the fetus’ access to self-consciousness by discovering his body.

Lapses of the Heart: Frequency and Subjective Salience of Impressions Reported by Patients after Cardiac Arrest

After cardiac arrest (CA), some patients report impressions with highly realistic features, often referred to as near-death experience (NDE). The frequency of such episodes seems to be variable, with various types of content. In a prospective study, we subjected 126 CA cases treated at the Department of Emergency Medicine of the Medical University of Vienna under carefully controlled conditions to a structured interview. We included all patients admitted due to CA, whose communicative abilities were restored and who agreed to participate in the study. The questionnaire inquired as to living conditions, attitudes towards issues of life and death, and last recollections before and first impressions after the CA. The majority of the subjects (91 = 76%) replied to inquiries concerning impressions during CA with "nothing" or "blackout", but 20 (16%) gave a detailed account. A German version of the Greyson questionnaire specifically addressing NDE phenomena (included towards the end of the interview) resulted in ≥7 points in five patients (4%). Three patients reported a meeting with deceased relatives (one with 6 Greyson points), one an out-of-body episode, and one having been sucked into a colorful tunnel. Eleven of these twenty cases had their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) started within the first min of CA, a higher fraction than cases without experience. Reported experience after CA was of high significance for the patients; many of them changed their point of view on issues of life and death.

A Study on the Spiritual Meanings and Thanatological Significance of Near-Death-Experiences(NDE)

A Study on the Spiritual Meanings and Thanatological Significance of Near-Death-Experiences(NDE)

Incidence of near-death experiences in patients surviving a prolonged critical illness and their long-term impact: a prospective observational study

BackgroundSo far, the few prospective studies on near-death experience (NDE) were carried out only in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with homogeneous aetiologies, such as cardiac arrest or trauma survivors. The aims of this 1-year prospective and monocentric study were to investigate the incidence of NDE in ICU survivors (all aetiologies) as well as factors that may affect its frequency, and to assess quality of life up to 1 year after enrolment.MethodsWe enrolled adults with a prolonged ICU stay (> 7 days). During the first 7 days after discharge, all eligible patients were assessed in a face-to-face interview for NDE using the Greyson NDE scale, dissociative experiences using the Dissociative Experience Scale, and spirituality beliefs using the WHOQOL-SRPB. Medical parameters were prospectively collected. At 1-year after inclusion, patients were contacted by phone to measure quality of life using the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire.ResultsOut of the 126 included patients, 19 patients (15%) reported having experienced a NDE as identified by the Greyson NDE scale (i.e. cut-off score ≥ 7/32). In univariate analyses, mechanical ventilation, sedation, analgesia, reason for admission, primary organ dysfunction, dissociative and spiritual propensities were associated with the emergence of NDE. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, only the dissociative and spiritual propensity strongly predicted the emergence of NDE. One year later (n = 61), the NDE was not significantly associated with quality of life.ConclusionsThe recall of NDE is not so rare in the ICU. In our cohort, cognitive and spiritual factors outweighed medical parameters as predictors of the emergence of NDE.Trial registration This trial was registered in Clinicaltrials.gov in February 2020 (NCT04279171).

Family caregivers' experience of communication with nursing home staff from admission to end of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study employing a transitional perspective.

Family caregivers' (FCs) caregiving in nursing home (NH) moves across 3 main phases: transitioning relatives to long-term care, worsening of a relative's conditions, and end of life; each phase brings specific challenges that FCs must confront. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, strict mandatory visitor restrictions affected communication modalities. This study explored FCs' experience of communication with NH staff during the COVID-19 pandemic from admission to end of life. A descriptive qualitative study with inductive content analysis was performed in 7 Italian NHs from May to June 2021. NH managers purposively identified 25 FCs at different phases of their caregiving trajectory: transitional (i.e., admission in the previous 8weeks, n=8), deterioration-in-condition (i.e., acknowledged changes in care needs of their relative after trigger events, n=10), and end-of-life phase (i.e., death expected in the next weeks or a few months, n=7), who were interviewed. Regardless the phase of caregiving trajectory, what mattered most to FCs was the opportunity to have regular and sensitive discussions with health-care professionals. The need of in-person communication increased nearing death. The COVID-19 pandemic enhanced FCs' need to interact with health-care professionals they trusted. Knowledge of residents' preferences mitigated FCs' turbulent emotions throughout the overall caregiving trajectory. Findings suggest that in-person contacts should be prioritized and facilitated when possible, particularly at the end of life; nonetheless, meaningful communication can occur also through remote modalities. Investments in training health-care professionals about effective long-distance communication and supportive skills can help trusting relationships to be established. Open discussions about residents' care preferences should be encouraged.

Exploring the needs and barriers for death education in China: Getting answers from heart transplant recipients' inner experience of death.

Promoting reflection about death may support better living, and how to carry out death education is an important issue to be addressed across the world. The purpose of the current study was to explore the attitude of heart transplant recipients toward death and their inner real experience to provide information for the development of death education strategies. A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted using a snowball method. A total of 11 patients who had undergone heart transplantation more than 1-year ago were recruited for the current study for semi-structured interviews. A total of five themes were identified: "Not avoid talking about death," "Feeling fear about the pain in the process of death", "Wanting a good death at the end of life," "The richness of feelings during near-death is surprising," and "Being close to death makes people more receptive to death." Heart transplant recipients have a positive attitude toward death and wish for "good death" at the end of life. These patients' near-death experiences and positive attitudes toward death during the course of their illness provided evidence of the need for death education in China and supported the experiential approach to death education.

A history of medicine for patient: patient subjectivity and the change of historiography of medicine

Abstract Patient’s voice has become louder in recent years. It is a statement of illness, disability, near-death experience, and a cry from the weak, which reveals rich and multiple aspects of patient's physical diseases and mental pain. The groans of patients should not only be treated as reference for decision-making in clinical diagnosis and treatment, but need to be marked down as a voice of the weak in the history of medicine. However, the reality is this voice often stays as physician’s medical records than writings in history of medicine. The mainstream of medical history focuses on how doctors cure diseases, while ignores the role of patients. At times in history of medicine, it was patient’s illness challenged traditional medical theories, provided new perspectives to diagnosis and treatment, and corrected mistakes and prejudice of physicians. Yet, patients benefited very little in the process. Although a few patients miraculously recovered, more became experimental subjects and victims of medicine (Perino L. Patients Zéro: Histoires inversées de la médecine (Chinese edition). France: La Découverte; 2020). Tracing the change of the understanding on patient subjectivity in history of medicine, this paper aims to call for a rise of history of medicine centered on patients.

Near-death experiences and the change of worldview in survivors of sudden cardiac arrest: A phenomenological and hermeneutical study.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) can occur during episodes of unconsciousness from life-threatening conditions, such as sudden cardiac arrests (SCAs). This study is based on interviews with patients who had an NDE. The interviews were analyzed with phenomenological hermeneutical method for their lived experiences and the meaning for the view of life and death. Four participants were interviewed 10 weeks after their NDE. Four themes emerged: being on the other side, in another dimension; not dreaming, this is a real experience; being in a non-physical condition without my body; and comparing views of life and death before and after the NDEs. The participants described the NDEs as an experience of another realm as non-physical in nature and existing beyond space and time. This study shows that this experience of another state of being, through the lived experiences of NDEs, gave the participants an entirely new meaning on life and death. To them, death was no longer viewed as an end but a passage into something else and that life continues after death. This realization instantly changed their worldview.

Neuro-functional modeling of near-death experiences in contexts of altered states of consciousness.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) including out-of-body experiences (OBEs) have been fascinating phenomena of perception both for affected persons and for communities in science and medicine. Modern progress in the recording of changing brain functions during the time between clinical death and brain death opened the perspective to address and understand the generation of NDEs in brain states of altered consciousness. Changes of consciousness can experimentally be induced in well-controlled clinical or laboratory settings. Reports of the persons having experienced the changes can inform about the similarity of the experiences with those from original NDEs. Thus, we collected neuro-functional models of NDEs including OBEs with experimental backgrounds of drug consumption, epilepsy, brain stimulation, and ischemic stress, and included so far largely unappreciated data from fighter pilot tests under gravitational stress generating cephalic nervous system ischemia. Since we found a large overlap of NDE themes or topics from original NDE reports with those from neuro-functional NDE models, we can state that, collectively, the models offer scientifically appropriate causal explanations for the occurrence of NDEs. The generation of OBEs, one of the NDE themes, can be localized in the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) of the brain, a multimodal association area. The evaluated literature suggests that NDEs may emerge as hallucination-like phenomena from a brain in altered states of consciousness (ASCs).

The associations between paranormal beliefs and sleep variables.

Previous studies have found significant associations between paranormal beliefs and sleep variables. However, these have been conducted on a small scale and are limited in the number of sleep variables investigated. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by investigating paranormal beliefs in relation to a wide range of sleep variables in a large sample. Participants (N=8853) completed a survey initiated by the BBC Focus Magazine. They reported on their demographics, sleep disturbances and paranormal beliefs. Poorer subjective sleep quality (lower sleep efficiency, longer sleep latency, shorter sleep duration and increased insomnia symptoms) was associated with greater endorsement of belief in: (1) the soul living on after death; (2) the existence of ghosts; (3) demons; (4) an ability for some people to communicate with the dead; (5) near-death experiences are evidence for life after death; and (6) aliens have visited earth. In addition, episodes of exploding head syndrome and isolated sleep paralysis were associated with the belief that aliens have visited earth. Isolated sleep paralysis was also associated with the belief that near-death experiences are evidence for life after death. Findings obtained here indicate that there are associations between beliefs in the paranormal and various sleep variables. This information could potentially better equip us to support sleep via psychoeducation. Mechanisms underlying these associations are likely complex, and need to be further explored to fully understand why people sometimes report "things that go bump in the night".

ПРОИСХОЖДЕНИЕ РЕЛИГИОЗНЫХ ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЙ ИЗ ОКОЛОСМЕРТНОГО ОПЫТА

The subject of the article is the idea that religious beliefs are originated from near-death experience. Firstly, it is supported by the existence of a necessary connection between mystical (religious) and near-death experience: 1) the majority of people who have survived clinical death, in their near-death experience have had an experience traditionally considered religious; 2) a clear correla-tion of brain activation in delta-, alpha- and gamma-bands has been established for both groups of near-death and religious experi-ences; 3) near-death and mystical experiences are associated with similar functional changes in the autonomic nervous system. Secondly, it’s corroborated by the correspondence between the complex of near-death experience and religious ideas about the "afterlife". The opposite modalities of subjective reality in the state of clinical death are oniric experiences similar to religious images of Hell and Paradise. Thirdly, it is supported by the origin of the majority of archaic religious ideas from near-death experience: 1) there are numerous direct evidences that religious ideas come from near-death experience; 2) the variability of the genesis of reli-gious ideas from analogs of near-death experience has been recorded; 3) the relationship between shamanic practices and near-death experience has been established.