Key Information
What is a near death experience?
A near death experience is a subjective experience where people who are clinically dead, near death, or expected death experience.
What are the two types of near death experiences?
Many people who experience near death experiences fall into two categories, pleasurable and distressing experiences.
True of False:
Many people who experienced near death experience claimed that it changed their life.
True.
80% of people who experience near death experiences claimed that it changed their lives.
True of False:
People who have different cultures or follow different religions have the exact same near death experiences.
There are common similarities that they may experience, but there are also some distinctions.
True or False:
Different people of age can result in different near death experiences.
True.
Near-death experiences in very young children is important because at an early age they are less likely to have established religious beliefs, cultural understandings about death, or even an awareness of what death is. Very young children would be very unlikely to have heard about near-death experiences or understand them.
Which type of near death experience is more common?
Most near death experiencers have reported pleasurable near death experiences.
What are the two types of changes that one might experience after the near death experiences?
One might experience psychological changes and physiological changes.
What are common similarities that people that experience near death experiences?
Spiritual beings and encountering a border between the earthly and spiritual domains are common features in NDEs worldwide.
Who can get near death experiences?
Everyone.
Near death experiences are “equal opportunity” experiences. People from many cultures, backgrounds, ages (from infants to elderly people) have had NDEs. NDEs have been reported by males and females, people from all levels of education, of all religions (including people who are not involved in any religions), people of all social/wealth levels, heterosexuals and homosexuals, people with a variety of belief systems including various beliefs about life and death, people with a life history of “good” or “bad” actions, and people with and without mental illness. None of these aspects of a person has made it possible to predict who will or won’t have an NDE.
Describe three feelings that someone who experienced pleasurable near death experiences may involve.
Feelings may involve:
Love
Joy
Peace
Bliss
Describe three major psychological changes in someone who experienced a near death experience.
Loss of the fear of death
More spiritual and less religious
Easily engage in abstract thinking
More philosophical
What are some differences that people from different cultures and religions may experience?
In countries where tunnels have been constructed as part of the infrastructure, NDE descriptions may include mention of movement through a tunnel; in countries without such infrastructure, people do not mention tunnels--but they may describe moving through the neck of a gourd or the funnel of a plant.
What are some causes of near death experiences?
There has not yet been a scientific explanation for near death experiences. Some causes of near death experiences may be:
the effect of drugs such as DMT or ketamine, hallucination
psychological avoidance of death
normal shutting down of brain activity
Describe three feelings that someone who experienced pleasurable near death experiences may involve.
Feelings may involve:
Terror
Horror
Anger
Isolation
Guilt
Describe three major physiological changes in someone who experienced a near death experience.
Heightened intelligence
More creative and inventive
Often turn to alternative healthcare treatments
Electrical sensitivity
True or False:
A person’s culture and personal experiences almost certainly influence the exact form that those features take and the experiencer’s interpretation of them.
True.
It is now generally understood that near death experiences have a deep structure—general features that occur to people across cultures; a cultural surface structure—specific forms that those general features take which relate to the near death experiencer's culture; and a personal surface structure—a version of a specific form that is unique to each near death experiencer.
Identify common elements that define near death experiences.
General features of the experience include impressions of being outside one's physical body, visions of deceased relatives and religious figures, etc.
True of False:
People who did bad deeds are more likely to experience distressing near death experiences than those who did many good deeds in their life.
False:
Even though most people tend to experience pleasurable near death experiences, there has been no proven correlation between the types of near death experiences. Someone who did good deeds in their life may experience distressing near death experiences, and someone who did bad things and committed crimes could get pleasurable near death experiences.
True of False:
Many people that have near death experiences said that it was not beneficial to them.
Most near death experiencers say their near death experiences have changed them. Some changes happened right away, others more gradually over time. Many people who have had NDEs need time to integrate the experience. So me people need months; others need years. People whohave had distressing NDEs may feel especially challenged to make sense of their distressing experiences. Research shows that the great majority of people who have had near death experiences, whether pleasurable or distressing, sooner or later come to see them as beneficial. Often they think their NDEs were the most profound and helpful experiences of their lives.
How can near death experiences affect someone who attempted suicide?
An important finding from research is that, although ordinarily a person who has attempted suicide is more likely to try again, suicide attempters who had an NDE are much less likely to try again. They say they have learned that their lives have purpose. They see life as a gift. They have learned that when they face hard times, their job is to deal with the problem constructively. They see all life experiences as opportunities to deepen their ability to love and to increase their knowledge.