Near-death experience (NDE)
A near-death experience (NDE) is a psychological phenomenon that individuals may undergo when they are close to death but are subsequently revived. While NDEs can vary widely from person to person, common reported sensations include feelings of floating above one's body, encountering a bright light, and experiencing unconditional love. Some individuals have even described detailed out-of-body experiences where they could accurately recount events happening around them during their clinical death, known as veridical NDEs. Despite extensive research and various theories proposed to explain NDEs—ranging from brain chemistry to spiritual interpretations—no single explanation has been universally accepted.
Estimates suggest that around 5% of the U.S. population has experienced an NDE, a figure that might increase as medical techniques improve. Many who undergo NDEs report lasting changes in their perspectives on life, often becoming more compassionate and less materialistic. However, it is important to note that not all NDEs are positive; some individuals recount distressing experiences. The implications of NDEs continue to be a topic of intrigue, drawing interest from both scientists and those exploring the spiritual dimensions of human experience.
Near-death experience (NDE)
A near-death experience (NDE) is a psychological event that may occur when a person nearly dies but is then resuscitated. While no two NDEs are identical, those who have had them reported experiencing similar sensations, such as seeing a bright light or floating above one's body. Scientists have proposed theories to attempt to explain what causes an NDE, but none of these theories fully explain the phenomenon. This has led many lay persons—and even some physicians—to conclude that NDEs are a glimpse into the afterlife and possibly proof that the mind, or soul, can exist without the body. Researchers estimate that about 5 percent of the US population—about 10 million people—has had an NDE, and as cardiac-resuscitation techniques continue to improve, this percentage is expected to rise.
Common Sensations
Most people who have had a near-death experience (NDE) were on the brink of death. While NDEs vary somewhat, those who have experienced them reported having had some or all of these sensations:
hearing oneself declared dead
feeling unconditionally loved
feeling a sense of leaving the body and floating above it, sometimes observing the surroundings
traveling through a tunnel toward a bright, peaceful light
reviewing one's life
crossing a border
meeting spiritual beings or spiritual versions of deceased relatives and friends
being reluctant to return to the body
However, it is important to note that not all NDEs are pleasurable. Some individuals reported being in complete darkness and having the horrible feeling of hanging over a cliff. The spiritual beings they encountered were demonic, not loving. These "hellish" NDEs seem to occur much less often than "heavenly" NDEs.
Veridical NDEs
In veridical NDEs, people have out-of-body experiences in which they see and hear things that others later verify as being true. In one famous case in 1991, a medical team chilled the body of Pam Reynolds, a singer and songwriter, to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. They were trying to keep an enormous aneurysm at the base of her skull from rupturing. They stopped her heart, drained the blood from her head, and determined that her brain was inactive—Reynolds was clinically dead.
Reynolds later reported having a vivid NDE and also remembered details of her surgery as if she had watched it taking place over the surgeon's shoulder. She recalled the conversation between the nurses and the doctor and accurately described the saw the surgeon had used on her skull.
In another account, a 57-year-old man claimed to have risen out of his body and up to a corner of the room, where he watched the staff trying to resuscitate him. He described the way his hair looked and how the doctors cut off his clothes. He also recounted the way the physician used the defibrillator, which caused him to be sucked back into his body. The medical staff confirmed the accuracy of the man's recollections.
Research and Biological Theories
Written accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) go back to the Middle Ages. However, research into what causes them did not begin until 1975 when Raymond A. Moody, Jr., a psychologist who was once a philosopher, published the book Life After Life. Moody based his book on fifty interviews he conducted with people who had had NDEs. The book was enormously popular and sparked debate as to whether the soul leaves the body after death and travels to another world. In 1981, the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) formed to further investigate NDEs.
Early researchers theorized that drugs administered to dying patients were responsible for NDEs. This theory was shelved, however, when individuals who were not given medications—such as those who had fallen from mountains—experienced NDEs.
After decades of research, scientists still do not know what causes NDEs. At best, they have theories to explain the physical changes that may be responsible for some of the sensations people experience during an NDE. For example, a loss of oxygen to the brain may be responsible for the tunnels people see. A massive dose of the drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) released from the pineal gland before death may cause other sensations, such as seeing a bright light.
In 2006, Richard Kinseher proposed a new theory to explain NDEs in his book Near-Death Experiences: completely explained. According to Kinseher, approaching death is strange and frightening. This causes a surge in electrical activity in the brain that triggers the start of the NDE. Then the individual's brain searches through all its memories to try to find a comparable memory that may help them get out of the situation and avoid death. The brain searching through these memories causes the life review that some people experience.
Critics of Kinseher's theory point out that it cannot be applied to all situations. For example, it does not explain how and why people have veridical perceptions during NDEs. It also does not indicate why individuals with no brain function at the time experience NDEs. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon, reported having an NDE in 2008 after being in a deep coma for seven days, when his neo-cortex, the part of the brain responsible for thought and emotion, was completely shut down. Alexander had contracted a rare type of bacterial meningitis in which E. Colibacteria had penetrated his cerebrospinal fluid and made their way into his brain. He recounted being transported to a beautiful world where he met a girl riding on a butterfly's wing. She took him on an amazing journey through this world and sent him the message—without speaking words—that he is loved unconditionally. He believes that his experience is proof that the consciousness can exist without the body.
Implications of an NDE
While the cause of NDEs may not yet be known, people who experience them appear to be forever changed. They become more patient, more forgiving, and less materialistic. They may change careers and seek out work that helps others. Skeptics are quick to point out, however, that people often undergo such lifestyle changes after any major crisis, so almost dying, rather than an NDE, may be the reason for the new outlook on life.
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