Near-death-like experiences without life-threatening conditions or brain disorders: a hypothesis from a case report

A case of near-death experience (NDE) occurred without any life-threatening conditions, challenging the dominant hypotheses that NDEs stem from brain disorders or psychological reactions to the threat of death. The individual experienced typical NDE features—peace, bright light, encountering deceased relatives, and transcending space and time—despite being medically stable. This evidence indicates that neither a brain-based nor a wish-fulfillment explanation can fully account for such experiences, suggesting a broader theoretical framework is needed to understand the phenomenon.

Study at a glance

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.