Life review and tunnel sensation in near-death experiences appear to be culture-bound phenomena, confined largely to societies where historic religions are dominant. The clinical literature postulating biological theories for life review and tunnel sensations, therefore, may have been developed somewhat prematurely. The present review argues that social and historical explanations are more...
Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been reported to decrease fear of death and foster a “romanticized” view of death, yet also promote antisuicidal attitudes. This study was an empirical investigation of psychodynamic hypotheses suggested to explain that paradoxical effect, using a thirty-six-item questionnaire constructed for this purpose. One hundred-fifty near-death experiencers (NDErs) and...
A considerable amount of information on the aftereffects of near-death experiences (NDEs) has been gathered by researchers and used by practitioners to help NDErs, but the lessons from this information have not been presented for use by the rest of humanity. This essay summarizes nine lessons consistently gleaned from NDEs, which may help motivate humanity to live more in accordance with the...
Study seeking to assess the hypothesis that near-death experiencers are characterized by a dissociative response style engendered by severely traumatic childhood experiences.
This paper describes a possible near-death experience (NDE) among the Mapuche people of Chile. The individual reporting the experience was in a cataleptic-like state for two days, the experience itself occurring at the end of this period. Some common features of NDEs, such as encounters with deceased people and being sent back, are present, together with clear evidence that past and present...
This article (a) outlines a systematic theory of the near-death experience (NDE) based on accumulated research; (b) formulates 23 propositions that describe the NDE developmental process and illustrates these propositions and their relationship to one another; and (c) discusses observations on the sequence of events for the NDE and its aftermath and illustrates a proposed model of causal...
for investigation of the organization of the sensory and motor cortices, language, and other cognitive processes" of the human cortex (Haglund, Ojemann, and Hochman, 1992, p. 668).Michael Haglund, George Ojemann, and Daryl Hochman measured optical changes in five persons undergoing surgery for intractable epilepsy, mapped the sensory cortex and Broca's area on two awake patients under local...
The near-death experience (NDE) literature has long chron icled the observation that out-of-body experiences (OBEs) lead to relief from physical and emotional pain.Researchers have suggested recently that the NDE may be viewed as dissociation.People who are physically or sexually abused, including those who have multiple personality disorder, often develop dissociative defenses and may well...
Article offering a comparison of historical cases of Tibetan near-death experiences (NDEs) and contemporary Western accounts. A tradition of NDEs in Tibetan culture, the das-log experience, affords such a comparison. Modern NDEs differ from das-log experiences in ways that reflect their cultural context and may provide the foundation for a new Book of the Dead especially fitted to the...