An Introduction to Near-Death Experiences

A Composite NDE Sketching Elements of the Experience

While at home, a man (Bill) collapses after going into cardiac arrest. Bill can see the details of their uniforms and the instruments they are using to revive him. He also hears their conversation. He is vividly aware of his surroundings. Suddenly it seems to Bill that he is floating above his body, watching the paramedics work to resuscitate him. While at home, a man (Bill) collapses after going into cardiac arrest.

Tunnel Experience Next, Bill feels himself being drawn through a long tunnel with a light at the end of the tunnel.

Bill also meets deceased family members and friends. At the end of the tunnel Bill encounters luminous beings that fill him with a sense of peace and love. Bill also meets deceased family members and friends.

Bill next experiences a supreme being of light. The being of light informs Bill that he must return to his body.

Bill now experiences a life review.

The Life Review Bill experiences significant moments from his life, along with the emotions associated with them. He also feels the effects of his actions on other people.

Bill feels himself being drawn back into his body.

The paramedics successfully revive Bill. Bill’s attitude toward life has now undergone a radical change. He has a deep concern for the welfare of others and believes that love and knowledge are the basic principles of life.

Basic Questions About NDEs? What are the essential features of NDEs? What are the conditions under which NDEs occur? How common are NDEs? What are the psychological effects of NDEs? What are the explanatory models of NDEs?

Methodological Issues Retrospective Studies: Data collected from “convenience samples” of NDE subjects sometime after their experience. Researchers use strategies to recruit subjects, e.g., solicitation through newspaper advertisements. Problem: sample bias. Prospective Studies: Data collected about NDE subjects before or during the period of occurrence, and where the subjects are under medical observation.

Prospective Studies “In prospective studies, an intact cohort of potential respondents is identified by specifying a life-threatening or life-ending medical event in a specific hospital or set of hospitals for a specific period of time. Researchers set up criteria to derive a subset of that cohort who are deemed capable of being interviewed and who, potentially, may agree to participate in the study.” Zingrone and Alvarado (p. 32)

Number of Studies (1975-2005) 42 Retrospective Studies in the United States. Over 2,500 research subjects. 13 Retrospective Studies outside the United States. Over 600 research subjects. 10 Prospective Studies in North America and Europe involving about 270 research subjects

Essential Features of Near-Death Experiences

Ring’s 1980 Weighted Core Experience Index (WCEI) Study N Peace OBE Tunnel/Dark Area Light Entered Light Ring 1980 49 60% 37% 23% 16% 10% Lindley 1981 55 75% 71% 38% 56% ------ Green and 50 70% 66% 32% 62% 18% Friedman 1983 Van Lommel 62 ------ 24% 31% 23% ------- 2001 These five features of NDEs represent the core experience according to Ring. They represent the earlier phases or stages of an NDE. Later stages of an NDE are less common.

Greyson and Stevenson 1980 Report

NUMBER OF SAMPLE: 78 Out of Body Experience 75% Passing Through a Tunnel or Tunnel-like Structure 31% Entering an Unearthly Realm 72% Encountering Beings 49% Reaching a Point of No Return 57% Somatic Sensations (e.g., warmth, analgesia) 71% Auditory Phenomena (e.g., music, noises) 57% Distortion in Sense of Time 79% ESP 39% Positive Experience 15% Mildly Positive 40% Neutral or Mildly Negative 45% Very Negative 0%

Greyson NDE Scale (1983) 16 Features of NDEs

Altered Sense of Time 64% 18% Accelerated Thought Processes 19% 44% N (Year) 74 (1983) 27 (2003) COGNITIVE ELEMENTS Altered Sense of Time 64% 18% Accelerated Thought Processes 19% 44% Life Review 22% 30% Sudden Understanding 30% 30% AFFECTIVE ELEMENTS Feeling of Peace 77% 85% Surrounded with Light 43% 70% Feeling Joy 64% 67% Feeling Cosmic Unity/Oneness 57% 52% PARANORMAL ELEMENTS Out of Body Experience 53% 70% Senses More Vivid than Usual 38% 15% ESP 23% 11% Visions of the Future 16% 7% TRANSCENDENTAL ELEMENTS Another World 58% 63% Encountered Beings 26% 52% Mystical Being 47% 26% Point of No Return 26% 41% 2003 study: cardiac arrest patients, prospective study: 27 NDErs out of a sample of 116 interviewees.

Applying the Greyson Scale Each of the 16 NDE features may be given a value of 0 (did not occur), 1 (occurred), or 2 (occurred with great intensity). Using the Greyson Scale a maximal NDE is 32. According to Greyson, an experience counts as an NDE if and only if it scores at least 7.

Typically, NDEs scoring 7 have features from multiple categories. N (Year) 74 (1983) 27 (2003) COGNITIVE ELEMENTS Altered Sense of Time 64% 18% Accelerated Thought Processes 19% 44% Life Review 22% 30% Sudden Understanding 30% 30% AFFECTIVE ELEMENTS Feeling of Peace 77% 85% Surrounded with Light 43% 70% Feeling Joy 64% 67% Feeling Cosmic Unity/Oneness 57% 52% PARANORMAL ELEMENTS Out of Body Experience 53% 70% Senses More Vivid than Usual 38% 15% ESP 23% 11% Visions of the Future 16% 7% TRANSCENDENTAL ELEMENTS Another World 58% 63% Encountered Beings 26% 52% Mystical Being 47% 26% Point of No Return 26% 41% An NDE rating of 7 requires the presence of at least four features, though not necessarily from the same category. Typically, NDEs scoring 7 have features from multiple categories. A person scoring 16 will likely have experienced eight to ten features, whereas a person scoring 8 will likely have experienced four to six features.

Conditions Under Which NDEs Occur

Bruce Greyson (1980), 78 NDEs: 40% illness 37% traumatic injury 13% surgery 7% childbirth 4% use of drugs Kenneth Ring (1980), 48 NDEs: 60% illness 23% accidents 17% suicide attempts

33% complications in surgery or childbirth Greyson (1983), 69 NDEs: 33% complications in surgery or childbirth 23% exacerbation of existing illness or problem pregnancies 22% accidents 10% sudden natural events such as cardiac arrest 6% loss of consciousness from unknown causes 6% suicide attempts

Stevenson, Cook, and Nicholas McClean-Rice (1989-1990), 40 NDEs: 72.5% illness, surgery, or childbirth 22.5% accidents 5% drug overdose

NDEs occur under a variety of circumstances involving physical or emotional trauma. Some evidence that NDEs are likely to be more frequent in cases of cardiac arrest.

Frequency of NDEs Pim van Lommel (2001) 344 survivors of cardiac arrest, 62 reported an NDE (18%) Other studies range from 10%-23%

Prevalence vs. Incidence Prevalence: How many people are likely to have one or more NDEs in their lifetime? Incidence: How many people under a certain medical circumstance are likely to have an NDE? What criteria are used to decide this? See page 35 of Handbook of Near-Death Experiences for chart on estimates on incidences.

The Psychological Effects of NDEs A renewed sense of the meaningfulness of life Love and knowledge the two supreme virtues to be pursued.

Some NDEs are unpleasant or terrifying experiences. Negative NDEs Some NDEs are unpleasant or terrifying experiences. Experiences of similar to peaceful NDEs but interpreted by the subject as unpleasant A sense of non-existence or eternal void Graphic hellish landscapes and entities *Bruce Greyson and Nancy Evans Bush, “Distressing Near-Death Experiences” in The Near-Death Experience: A Reader, ed. Lee Bailey and Jenny Yates (1996).

Some prominent early NDE reports (1975-82) (e. g Some prominent early NDE reports (1975-82) (e.g., Moody, Ring, Greyson) do not refer to negative NDEs. Michael Sabom (1982) reported that 18% of NDErs he interviewed had at least partially negative NDEs. Lindley, Bryan, and Conley (1981) reported 12 negative NDEs in the 55 cases they examined. 1980-81 Gallop Poll estimated that 1% of NDErs reported having negative NDEs.

Explanatory Models Psychological Models Physiological Models Survivalist Models

Main Challenge to Psychological and Physiological Models: The veridical features of NDEs. Main Challenges to the Survivalist Model Certain features of NDEs may be artificially induced, e.g., by certain drugs. The veridical component of NDEs may be the product of psychic functioning and so not indicative of survival of death.

Some Prominent NDE Researchers Raymond Moody, Ph.D, M.D. Consciousness Studies, University of Nevada Author: Life after Life (1976) Kenneth Ring, Ph.D Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut Author: Life at Death (1980), Lessons from the Light (2000)

Author: What Happens When We Die? (2006) Sam Parnia. M.D., Ph.D Fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Cornell University, New York Author: What Happens When We Die? (2006) Peter Fenwick Neuropsychiatrist, former head of neuroepilepsy service at the Maudley Hospital in London, UK. Author: The Truth in the Light: An Investigation of over 300 Near-Death Experiences (1995)

Bruce Greyson, M.D. Chester F. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia Author: “Phenomenology of Near-Death Experiences” (1980) and dozens of other articles Pim van Lommel Author: Endless Consciousness (Dutch, 2007), After Life: A Scientific Approach to Near-Death Experiences (2010)

Sources Janice Miner Holden, Bruce Greyson, and Debbie James, “The Field of Near-Death Studies: Past, Present, and Future” in Handbook of Near-Death Experiences, ed. Holden, Greyson, and James (Praeger, 2009). Nancy Zingrone and Carlos Alvarado, “Pleasurable Western Adult Near-Death Experiences: Features, Circumstances, and Incidences,” in Handbook of Near-Death Experiences, ed. Holden, Greyson, and James (Praeger, 2009).