Psychological assistance to patients with near-death experience (based on foreign research)
Olga V. Gordeeva
Национальный психологический журнал November 19, 2018 DOI: 10.11621/npj.2018.0209 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Psychotherapy Psychological consultation Personal transformation Psychological problems Motives Values Emotions Psychological crisis Psychological adaptation Interpersonal relations |
| Key points | Proposes Atwater's adaptation model of near-death experience and elaborates universal rules for treating near-death experiencers, including children and their relatives, to reduce emotional and social problems. |
Abstract
Background. Near-death experience is an altered state of consciousness at the time when the person is on the threshold of death. Near-death experience has a specific structure which includes such elements as extra corporal experience, moving in a dark tunnel, seeing bright light, meetings with the deceased persons, panoramic life review and many others. The condition is quite common nowadays particularly due to the success of resuscitation and a high level of emergency care organization). Experience in itself and its some consequences derivate a lot of psychological problems at the person, which he is afraid to tell not only medical staff, but also relatives because of danger of interpretation his (her) near-death experiences as marks of psychic illness. The Objective of the analytical theoretical research was to study the experience of working with such patients, accumulated in Western medicine, psychology and psychotherapy, the organization of the training process and also the organization of psychotherapeutic support for survivors and members of their families. Design. This article analyzes the foreign (most publications on this subject is carried out in the United States) works on the problem of treatment with near-death experiencer and psychological support for them, the material contained in these works is structured and summarized on the main problems in this area. Research results. Based on the review and analysis of the reference literature a preliminary Atwater’s adaptation model of the near-death experience is proposed, the integration of this experience is viewed as the main goal to be implemented by the experiencer independently or in collaboration with a psychotherapist, the universal rules of treating near-death experiencers are elaborated. There are rules of treating different groups of experiencers and different categories of people interacting with them are identified and integrated: the rules of treating children with near-death, the experience of organizing psychotherapeutic assistance to their relatives. Conclusion. The compliance with the rules by physicians, psychotherapists and relatives of near-death patients contributes to the decreased emotional and social problems in the patient, and sometimes even prevents their occurrence.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- The Near-Death Experience Scale The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1983
- Distressing Near-Death Experiences Psychiatry February 1, 1992
- The phenomenology of near-death experiences American Journal of Psychiatry October 1, 1980
- Attitude Change Following Near-Death Experiences Psychiatry August 1, 1980
and 9 more in the library