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Near‐Death Experiences and Attempted Suicide

Bruce Greyson

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior March 1, 1981 DOI: 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1981.tb00995.x (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Topics Near-death experience
Keywords Medical emergency
Citations 55
Key findings Serious suicide attempts followed by transcendental near-death experiences may decrease subsequent overt suicide risk, contrary to the typical increased risk after attempted suicide.

Abstract

Attempted suicide is correlated with an increase subsequent risk of committed suicide. However, preliminary data and psychodynamic hypotheses suggest that serious suicide attempts followed by transcendental near-death experiences (NDEs) may decrease rather than increase subsequent overt suicide risk, despite the NDEs' apparent "romanticization" of death. Studies of NDEs and of their influence on suicidal ideation are proposed which may yield greater understanding of self-destructive urges and new strategies of suicide prevention.

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