Near-death-like experiences without life-threatening conditions or brain disorders: a hypothesis from a case report
Enrico eFacco, Christian eAgrillo
Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00490 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A single individual who experienced an NDE without life-threatening conditions |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Consciousness Near death experience Body-mind problem Death studies Reductionist |
| Key findings | A near-death experience occurred without any life-threatening conditions, contradicting hypotheses that NDEs are caused by brain disorders or psychological reactions to death. |
Abstract
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound psychic experiences commonly occurring in life-threatening conditions. They include feeling a sense of peace, of seeing a bright light, encountering deceased relatives or religious figures, and of transcending space and time. To explain them, it has been suggested that they stem from brain disorders and/or psychological reactions to approaching death, a sort of wishful thinking in response to the perceived threat.This is a report on a case with most of the features typical of NDEs except that it occurred entirely without any life-threatening conditions. This evidence is theoretically incompatible with either of the above hypotheses, suggesting that a broader interpretation of the phenomenon is needed.
Citations in the library
Cited by 38
- Near-death experiences in non-life-threatening events and coma of different etiologies Frontiers in Human Neuroscience May 27, 2014
- Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2019
- Temporality of Features in Near-Death Experience Narratives Frontiers in Human Neuroscience June 13, 2017
- Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience Frontiers in Psychiatry June 7, 2018
- Epistemological implications of near-death experiences and other non-ordinary mental expressions: Moving beyond the concept of altered state of consciousness Medical Hypotheses April 11, 2015
and 33 more in the library
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