This research considers how a storyteller might employ virtual reality (VR) in the creation of an immersive narrative that communicates an experience of both conscious and atypical consciousness (near-death experience). The study emanates from a post-positivist paradigm and the research design employs autoethnography supported by heuristic inquiry. It explores personal experiences in connection...
The psychological phenomenon of a suddenly appearing, extremely enigmatic, and at the same time fascinating state in which one feels influenced by higher powers was described as a “numinous experience” by R. Otto and C. G. Jung. This condition is one of those subjectively non-rational experiences that have so far received little attention in cultural clinical psychology and yet have great...
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are hallucinatory visual experiences that involve seeing the physical body placed in an external visual space. Many psychiatric disorders, brain dysfunctions, pharmacological agents, and altered psychological states are reportedly associated with these phenomena. OBEs have been linked to various brain lesions, particularly in the parietal and temporal regions,...
Introduction: N, N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an endogenous serotonergic psychedelic capable of producing radical shifts in conscious experience. Increasing trends in its use, as well as new trials administering DMT to patients, indicate the growing importance of a thorough elucidation of the phenomenology the drug may occasion. This is particularly in light of the hyper-real, otherworldly,...
Almost all anaphylactic reactions are associated with subjective symptoms, which are also referred to “prodromi”, and are often not taken seriously. In 100 patients categorized with different severity grades, subjective symptoms were investigated in a personal interview with free/open questions regarding subjective feelings and symptoms (duration 5–90 min). After the interview, the patients...
European PsychiatryApril 1, 2021R. Pinilla, Carmen Rocamora Rodriguez, D. Batet-Sanchez et al.3 citations
Introduction Ayahusca has potential therapeutic beneffits. Objectives Expose the potential beneffits of ayahuasca from neuropharmacology and clinical existing evidence. Methods A literature review was carried out in the databases pubmed, clinical key and texts of scientific dissemination. Results There´s scientific literature about the potential therapeutic use of ayahuasca in dependencies,...
The space‐time is empirically perceived as a pre-existing property of the universe. However, a special kind of perception that takes place in near-death-experiences (NDEs) is challenging this idea. Here, I will illustrate how understanding of this particular state of consciousness (named the bodiless consciousness) helps us re-think the space‐time structure of the physical world. I first...
In this study we analyzed retrospectively a database of 44 alleged death experiences between incarnations, as reported by 36 participants during hypnotic life regression sessions with the same hypnotist. The descriptions of these experiences were evaluated using the Italian version of the Near-Death Experience Scale. A large part of the reported experiences were categorized as "Affective", with...
Experiences of having an encounter with seemingly autonomous entities are sometimes reported after inhaling N,N-dimethyltryptamine. The study characterized the subjective phenomena, interpretation, and persisting changes that people attribute to N,N-dimethyltryptamine-occasioned entity encounter experiences. Two thousand, five hundred and sixty-one individuals (mean age 32 years; 77% male)...
In clinical setting, consciousness can be described by two components: wakefulness and awareness. It is now established that a wide range of states or experiences characterized by dissociation between these two components exists. This chapter discusses certain of those most intriguing instances, such as disorders of consciousness, hypnosis, anaesthesia and near-death experiences. We here...