Near-death experience

For other uses, see Near Death Experience (disambiguation).
"Near death" redirects here. For the comics, see Near Death (comics).
"NDE" redirects here. For other uses, see NDE (disambiguation).
Passage by Anna Sahlstén

A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are,[1] such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, joy, the experience of absolute dissolution, review of major life events, the presence of a light, and seeing dead relatives. When negative, such experiences may include sensations of anguish, distress, a void, devastation, and seeing hellish imagery.[1][2][3]

NDEs usually occur during reversible clinical death. Explanations for NDEs vary from scientific to religious. Neuroscience research hypothesizes that an NDE is a subjective phenomenon resulting from "disturbed bodily multisensory integration" that occurs during life-threatening events.[4] Some transcendental and religious beliefs about an afterlife include descriptions similar to NDEs.[2][5][6][7][8]

In the U.S., an estimated nine million people have reported an NDE according to a 2011 study in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Most of these near-death experiences resulted from serious injury affecting the body or brain.[9] Near-death experiences (NDEs) are reported by about 17% of those who nearly die. NDEs have been reported by children, adults, scientists, physicians, priests, ministers, among the religious and atheists, and from countries throughout the world. At the current time there are over 3,700 NDEs posted on the NDERF website, which is by far the largest collection of publicly accessible NDE accounts in the world.[10]

  1. ^ a b Bush NE, Greyson B (November–December 2014). "Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics". Mo Med. 111 (6): 486–90. PMC 6173534. PMID 25665233.
  2. ^ a b Sleutjes, A; Moreira-Almeida, A; Greyson, B (2014). "Almost 40 years investigating near-death experiences: an overview of mainstream scientific journals". J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 202 (11): 833–6. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000205. PMID 25357254. S2CID 16765929.
  3. ^ French, Kristen (2022-09-28). "The Afterlife Is in Our Heads". Nautilus. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  4. ^ Blanke, Olaf (2009). The Neurology of Consciousness. London: London: Academic Publishers, 2009. pp. 303–324. ISBN 978-0-12-374168-4.
  5. ^ Griffith, LJ (2009). "Near-death experiences and psychotherapy". Psychiatry (Edgmont). 6 (10): 35–42. PMC 2790400. PMID 20011577.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mauro1992pop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Vanhaudenhuyse, A.; Thonnard, M.; Laureys, S. (2009). "Towards a Neuro-scientific Explanation of Near-death Experiences?" (PDF). In Vincent, Jean-Louis (ed.). Yearbook of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-540-92276-6.
  8. ^ Koch, Christof (June 1, 2020). "What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about the Brain". Scientific American. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  9. ^ Orlando, Alex (Aug 23, 2021). "Can Science Explain Near Death Experiences?". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  10. ^ Zingrone NL, Alvarado CS. Pleasurable Western adult near-death experiences: features, circumstances, and incidence. In: Holden JM, Greyson B, James D, editors. The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO; 2009. pp. 17–40