Near-Death Experiences

Because of 20th-century advancements in resuscitation technology, people in numbers unprecedented in human history were returning from the brink of death reporting distinct psychological experiences with transcendental and mystical features that profoundly changed them. In 1975, psychiatrist and philosopher Raymond Moody Jr. first termed this as a near-death experience (NDE) and informed the public and most professionals about NDEs. By 2005, authors had published numerous books and over 800 refereed journal articles on the subject. In these publications, researchers reported on more than 65 studies involving over 2,500 near-death experients (the people experiencing NDEs). In these studies, they addressed the content and aftereffects of NDEs, the circumstances and incidences surrounding the experiences, and the characteristics of near-death experients. Researchers and NDE theorists also addressed the implications of NDEs for an understanding of death and the nature of consciousness. Following is a summary of 30 years of research and theory on these topics, as well as future directions in the field of near-death studies.

NDE Features and Aftereffects

Researchers have divided NDEs into two categories based on their predominant emotional tone and content: pleasurable and distressing. In both types, most near-death experients are adamant that their NDEs were as real or more real than their usual experience of reality and that their NDEs were different than dreaming, hallucination, or other familiar or known altered states of consciousness.

In pleasurable NDEs—those dominated by feelings such as peace, joy, and love—the number and combination of reported features varies but includes one or more of the following: total peace; separation of one's consciousness or sense of self from the body; observing the body and/or its surroundings; rapid movement through a non-earthly tunnel or void, usually toward a light; entry into the light, then perceived as an all-knowing, all-loving being; a life review, involving re-viewing and reexperiencing every moment of one's life and, simultaneously, being everyone on the receiving end of one's actions; encountering beautiful scenery and/ or music; encountering deceased loved ones or other spiritual entities with whom one communicates telepathically; encountering a border or limit; and either voluntary or involuntary return to the body, which the experient may not specifically recall or may recall having been through any of a variety of bodily locations such as the head, chest, or whole body. Near-death experients usually report a sense of timelessness in the NDE and sometimes report omniscience and/or having been shown past lives or future events.

Physical aftereffects of pleasurable NDEs can include a sense of confinement in the body that usually resolves relatively quickly; light and sound sensitivity that may or may not linger; increased allergic and medication sensitivity; and electromagnetic [Page 774]effects in the experient's vicinity, such as the malfunctioning of lights, computers, cell phones, and watch batteries. Short-term psychological aftereffects can include anger, sadness, and/or longing related to a sense of loss of the often profoundly pleasurable NDE; relief at being alive; frustration at the inability to adequately describe the ineffable/ indescribable quality of the NDE; fear of being disbelieved, pathologized, or demonized; and withdrawal from others or preoccupation with telling others about the NDE. Long-term psychological aftereffects can include a total loss of fear of death (an almost universal experience following pleasurable NDEs); an increased sense of self-acceptance; empathy for others; caring and love for humanity; an appreciation for nature and life; altruism and sense of service; a sense of detachment; a sense of alienation; compulsion to read and learn; a decreased tolerance for violence; and a decreased interest in wealth and fame. Social aftereffects can include isolation or frequent retelling of the NDE; testing in social relationships to determine safety to disclose the NDE without fear of negative reaction; family and friend relationship stress and changes related to the experient's psychological changes, including increased incidence of divorce; and career changes, often in the direction of greater social service. Spiritual aftereffects can include an ongoing sense of connection to a higher power or domain and/or to humanity, life, or the cosmos; religious or spiritual difficulties, especially if the NDE diverged profoundly from the experient's previous worldview, as it often does; leaving or becoming more deeply involved in organized religion; increased psychic experiences; ability to heal others; and an enhanced sense of meaning in life, especially that the purpose of life is primarily twofold: to develop in the capacity to love and to learn—to acquire knowledge.

...