NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE

A 'near-death experience' ('NDE') is a visionary experience, typically of a paranormal, spiritual or religious kind, sometimes reported by persons who have been revived after being pronounced clinically dead or who have been otherwise close to death. Some scientists consider such experiences to be hallucinatory^[1]; whilst others claim that they may be evidence of a life after death.^[2][3]
The experience has been reported more frequently in recent times since the development of cardiac resuscitation techniques. Popular interest in near-death experiences was sparked by Raymond Moody Jr's 1975 book "Life After Life" and the founding of the International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS) in 1978. According to a Gallup poll approximately eight million Americans claim to have had a near-death experience.^[4] NDEs are among the phenomena studied in the field of parapsychology, psychology, psychiatry^[5] and hospital medicine.^[6][7]

Contents

Characteristics

Research

As an afterlife experience

Religious and physiological views

Effects

See also

References

Footnotes

Further reading

Personal experiences

Fiction

External links

Advocacy

Neutral

Skeptical

Characteristics

The phenomenology of an NDE usually includes physiological, psychological and alleged transcendental aspects.^[8] Typically the experience follows a distinct progression:^[4][10][11]
# A sense of being dead.
# An out-of-body experience. A sensation of floating above one's body and seeing the surrounding area.
# Pleasant feelings, calmness. A sense of overwhelming love and peace.
# A very unpleasant sound/noise is the first sensory impression to be noticed (R. Moody: Life after Life)
#A sensation of moving upwards through a tunnel or narrow passageway.
# Meeting deceased relatives or spiritual figures.
# Encountering a being of light, or a light (often interpreted as being God or another religious/divine figure).
# Being given a life review.
# Reaching a border or boundary.
# A feeling of being returned to the body, often accompanied by a reluctance.
Some people have also experienced extremely distressing NDEs.
A 'core' near-death experience reflects — as intensity increases according to the Rasch scale — peace, joy and harmony, followed by insight and mystical or religious experiences.^[12] The most intense NDEs involve an awareness of things occurring in a different place or time, and some of these observations are said to have been evidential.
Clinical circumstances that are thought to lead to a NDE include conditions such as: cardiac arrest, shock in postpartum loss of blood or in perioperative complications, septic or anaphylactic shock, electrocution, coma, intracerebral haemorrhage or cerebral infarction, attempted suicide, near-drowning or asphyxia, apnoea, and serious depression.^[11] Evidence exists of a correlation between the cause of near-death situations (i.e. heart attack, accident, attempted suicide etc.) and an individual's experience of an NDE. For example, people who become aware of being in a dangerous and potentially fatal situation sometimes experience an NDE, while others may have no experience of this at all. Many NDEs occur after a crucial experience, e.g. when a patient can hear, that he is declared to be dead by a doctor or nurse, or when a person has the subjective impression to be in a fatal situation, e.g. during a near-miss automobile accident. In contrast to common belief, attempted suicides do not lead more often to unpleasant NDEs than unintended near-death situations.^[14]

Research

Interest in the NDE was originally spurred by the research of such pioneers as Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, George Ritchie, and Raymond Moody Jr. Moody's book ''Life After Life'', which was released in 1975, brought a great deal of attention to the topic of NDEs.^[15] This was soon followed by the establishment of the International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS) founded in 1978 in order to meet the needs of early researchers and experiencers within this field of research. Today the association includes researchers, health care professionals, NDE-experiencers and people close to experiencers, as well as other interested people. One of its main goals is to promote responsible and multi-disciplinary investigation of near-death and similar experiences.
Later researchers, such as Bruce Greyson, Kenneth Ring and Michael Sabom, introduced the study of Near-death experiences to the academic setting. The medical community has been somewhat reluctant to address the phenomenon of NDE's and grant money for research has been scarce.^[15] However, although the research was not always welcomed by the general academic community, both Greyson and Ring made significant contributions in order to increase the respectability of Near-death research.^[17] Major contributions to the field include the construction of a Weighted Core Experience Index.^[18] in order to measure the depth of the Near-death experience, and the construction of the Near-death experience scale^[19] in order to differentiate between subjects that are more or less likely to have experienced a classical NDE. The NDE-scale also aims to differentiate between what the field claims are "true" NDE and syndromes or stress responses that are not related to a NDE. Greyson's NDE-scale was later found to fit the Rasch rating scale model.^[12]
Other contributors to the research on Near-death experiences come from the disciplines of medicine, psychology and psychiatry. Greyson (1997) has also brought attention to the near-death experience as a focus of clinical attention, while Morse et al. (1985; 1986) have investigated Near-death experiences in a pediatric population.
Neuro-biological factors in the experience have been investigated by researchers within the field of medical science and psychiatry (Mayank and Mukesh, 2004; Jansen, 1995; Thomas, 2004). Among the researchers and commentators who tend to emphasize a naturalistic and neurological base for the experience we find the British psychologist Susan Blackmore (1993), and founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, Michael Shermer (1998).
Among the scientific and academic journals that have published, or are regularly publishing new research on the subject of NDE's we find: ''Journal of Near-Death Studies,'' ''Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease,'' ''British Journal of Psychology,'' ''American Journal of Disease of Children,'' ''Resuscitation,'' ''The Lancet,'' ''Death Studies,'' and the ''Journal of Advanced Nursing.''
The prevalence of NDEs has been variable in the few studies that have been performed. Gallup and Proctor in 1980-1981 surveyed a representative sample of the American population and found that 15% had NDEs.^[21] However, this analysis was part of a larger study on death and dying and was poorly controlled for assessing the prevalence of NDEs. Knolbach in 2001 performed a more rigorous study in Germany and found that 4% of the sample population had experienced a NDE.^[22] Perera et al in 2005 conducted a telephone survey of a representative sample of the Australian population as part of the Roy Morgan Catibus Survey and concluded that 8.9% of the population had experienced a NDE.^[23] In a more clinical setting, van Lommel et al (2001), a cardiologist from Netherlands, studied a group of patients who had suffered cardiac arrests and who were successfully revived. They found that 18% of these patients had a NDE with 12% of those being core experiences.
According to Martens (1994), the only satisfying method to address the NDE-issue would be an international multicentric data collection within the framework for standardized reporting of cardiac arrest events. The use of cardiac-arrest criteria as a basis for NDE research has been a common approach among the European branch of the research field.^[24]
In the 1990s, Dr. Rick Strassman conducted research on the psychedelic drug Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) at the University of New Mexico. Strassman advanced the theory that a massive release of DMT from the pineal gland prior to death or near death was the cause of the near death experience phenomenon. Only two of his test subjects reported NDE-like aural or visual hallucinations, although many reported feeling as though they had entered a realm similar to the bardo, or a transpersonal dimension that houses souls awaiting reincarnation. His explanation for this was the possible lack of panic involved in the clinical setting and possible dosage differences between those administered and those encountered in actual NDE cases. It is also important to take into account that all of the subjects in the study were very experienced users of DMT and/or other psychedelic/entheogenic agents. Had subjects without prior knowledge on the effects of DMT been used during the experiment, it is possible that more volunteers would have reported feeling as though they had died or had an NDE.
Critics have argued that neurobiological models often fail to explain NDEs that result from close brushes with death where the brain does not actually suffer physical trauma, such as a near-miss automobile accident. Such events may however have neurobiological effects caused by stress.
In a new theory (Kinseher, 2006) the Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) are seen as the result of a single brain function:
The human body is a very complex system, which is regulated and controlled by a very effective feedback control unit - the brain. All new sensual impressions are combined and compared with information (experiences) from our memory. The brain permanently has to deliver a suitable prediction of how a person should react at the actual situation. These proposals of the brain are under constant feedback change; therefore a person is always able to react immediately. The experience ´I am dead/I will die´ is an extremely strange paradox to a living organism - and therefore it will start the NDE. During the NDE a person can ´see´ the brain performing a scan of the whole episodic memory (even prenatal experiences), in order to find a stored experience which is comparable to the input information ´I am dead´. All these scanned and retrieved bits of information are permanently evaluated by the actual mind - it tries to give them a useful meaning. This is the reason why a Near-Death Experience is so unusual.
The ´Out of the Body Experience´ is an attempt by the brain to create a mental overview of the situation and the surrounding world. The brain transforms the input from sense organs and stored experience (knowledge) into a dream-like idea about oneself and the surrounding area.
There have been many skeptics of NDEs who have been spiritualists. In addition, a good scientist will answer the 'how' and 'what' questions, which are also questions that have not been answered about human consciousness (Pim van Lommel). This gives believers room for believing in the 'why' questions. (Jasen), (bbc.org), (bruce greyson)

As an afterlife experience

Some see the NDE as an afterlife experience. They believe that the NDE cannot be completely explained by physiological or psychological causes, and that consciousness can function independently of brain activity.^[25] Many NDE-accounts seem to include elements which, according to several theorists, can only be explained by an out-of-body consciousness. For example, in one account, a woman accurately described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as a conversation that occurred while she was under general anesthesia.^[26] In another account, from a proactive Dutch NDE study [1], a nurse removed the dentures of an unconscious heart attack victim, and was asked by him after his recovery to return them. It might be difficult to explain in conventional terms how an unconscious patient could later have recognized the nurse.^[11]
Dr. Michael Sabom reports a case about a woman who underwent surgery for an aneurysm. The woman reported an out-of-body experience that she claimed continued through a brief period of the absence of any EEG activity. If true, this would seem to challenge the belief by many that consciousness is situated entirely within the brain.^[26]
A majority of individuals who experience an NDE see it as a verification of the existence of an afterlife.^[29] This includes those with agnostic/atheist inclinations before the experience. Many former atheists, such as the Reverend Howard Storm^[30][31] have adopted a more spiritual view after their NDEs. Howard Storm's NDE might also be characterized as a distressing near-death experience. The distressing aspects of some NDE's are discussed more closely by Greyson & Bush (1992).
Greyson claims that "No one physiological or psychological model by itself explains all the common features of NDE. The paradoxical occurrence of heightened, lucid awareness and logical thought processes during a period of impaired cerebral perfusion raises particular perplexing questions for our current understanding of consciousness and its relation to brain function. A clear sensorium and complex perceptual processes during a period of apparent clinical death challenge the concept that consciousness is localized exclusively in the brain."^[32]
Research on NDEs occurring in the blind have also hinted that consciousness survives bodily death. Dr. Kenneth Ring claims in the book "Mindsight: Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind" that up to 80% of his sample studied reported some visual awareness during their NDE or out of body experience.^[33]Skeptics however question the accuracy of their visual awareness ^[34]

Religious and physiological views

There are many religious and physiological views about what NDEs are.

Effects

Main articles: Effects of near-death experiences

Near-death experiences can have tremendous effects on the people who have them, their families, and medical workers.

See also

★ Out-of-body experience

★ Near-Death Studies

★ Alister Hardy

★ ''Beyond and Back''

★ Form constant

★ Sheol

★ Lobsang Rampa

★ Lazarus phenomenon

★ Suspended animation

★ Premature burial

★ Near-birth experience

References

Footnotes

1. Blackmore, Susan:''Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences'' (1993). London, Grafton.
2. Grossman, Neil (Indiana University and University of Illinois), ''Who's Afraid of Life After Death? Why NDE Evidence is Ignored'', Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), 2002
3. Fontana, David (Cardiff University and Liverpool John Moores University), ''Does Mind Survive Physical Death?'', 2003
4. Mauro, James (1992) Bright lights, big mystery. Psychology Today, July 1992
5. Greyson, Bruce (2003), ''Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population''. Psychiatric Services, Dec., Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association
6. van Lommel, Pim (Hospital Rijnstate), ''Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands'', in The Lancet, 2001
7. van Lommel, Pim (Hospital Rijnstate), ''A Reply to Shermer: Medical Evidence for NDEs'', in Skeptical Investigations, 2003
8. Parnia, Waller, Yeates & Fenwick, 2001
9. Mauro, James (1992) Bright lights, big mystery. Psychology Today, July 1992
10. Morse, Conner & Tyler, 1985; Morse & Perry, 1992
11. van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands. Lancet, December 15;358(9298):2039-45.
12. Lange, Greyson & Houran, 2004
13. van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands. Lancet, December 15;358(9298):2039-45.
14. Ring, Kenneth: Heading toward Omega. In search of the Meaning of Near-Death Experience, 1984
15. Mauro, James. ''Bright lights, big mystery''. Psychology Today, July 1992
16. Mauro, James. ''Bright lights, big mystery''. Psychology Today, July 1992
17. IANDS, printable brochure
18. Ring K. ''Life at death. A scientific investigation of the near- death experience.'' 1980 New York: Coward McCann and Geoghenan
19. Greyson, 1983
20. Lange, Greyson & Houran, 2004
21. Gallup, G., and Proctor, W. (1982). Adventures in immortality: a look beyond the threshold of death. New York, McGraw Hill
22. Knoblauch, H., Schmied, I. and Schnettler, B. (2001). Different kinds of Near-Death Experience: a report on a survey of near-death experiences in Germany. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 20, 15-29
23. Perera, M., Padmasekara, G. and Belanti, J. (2005)Prevalence of Near Death Experiences in Australia. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 24(2), 109-116
24. Parnia, Waller, Yeates & Fenwick, 2001; van Lommel, van Wees, Meyers & Elfferich, 2001
25. Rivas, 2003
26. Sabom, Michael. ''Light & Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences''. 1998. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House
27. van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands. Lancet, December 15;358(9298):2039-45.
28. Sabom, Michael. ''Light & Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences''. 1998. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House
29. Kelly, 2001
30. Rodrigues, 2004
31. [2]
32. Greyson, 2001
33. Ring, Cooper, 1999
34. Hallucinatory Near-Death Experiences (2003) (Revised 2006)
35. Commentary

Further reading

★ American Psychiatric Association (1994) ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition''. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association (Code V62.89, Religious or Spiritual Problem).

★ Blackmore, Susan (1993) ''Dying to live: Science and Near-Death Experiences''. London: Harper Collins.

★ Blanke, Olaf; Ortigue, Stéphanie; Landis, Theodor; Seeck, Margitta (2002) ''Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. The part of the brain that can induce out-of-body experiences has been located''. Nature, Vol. 419, 19 September 2002

★ Britton WB & Bootzin RR. (2004) ''Near-death experiences and the temporal lobe.'' Psychol Sci. Apr;15(4):254-8. PubMed abstract PMID 15043643

★ Carey, Stephen S. (2004) ''A Beginner's Guide to Scientific Method''. Third Edition. Toronto: Thomson Wadsworth

★ Cowan, J. D. (1982) ''Spontaneous symmetry breaking in large-scale nervous activity.'' International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 22, 1059-1082.

★ Father Rose, Seraphim (1980) ''The Soul after Death''. Saint Herman Press, ISBN 0-938635-14-X

★ Greyson, B. (1983) ''The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, reliability, and validity.'' Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171, 369-375.

★ Greyson, Bruce (1983) ''The near-death experience scale. Construction, reliability, and validity''. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Jun;171(6):369-75.

★ Greyson B. (1997) ''The near-death experience as a focus of clinical attention''. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. May;185(5):327-34. PubMed abstract PMID 9171810

★ Greyson, B. (2000) ''Some neuropsychological correlates of the physio-kundalini syndrome.'' Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 32, 123-134.

★ Greyson, Bruce (2003) ''Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population''. Psychiatric Services, December, Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association

★ Greyson, Bruce & Bush, Nancy E. (1992) ''Distressing near-death experiences''. Psychiatry, Feb;55(1):95-110.

★ IANDS. ''IANDS: The International Association for Near-Death Studies''. Printable Brochure. Available at www.iands.org

★ Jansen, Karl L. R. (1995) ''Using ketamine to induce the near-death experience: mechanism of action and therapeutic potential''. Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness (Jahrbuch furr Ethnomedizin und Bewubtseinsforschung) Issue 4 pp55-81.

★ Jansen, Karl L. R. (1997) ''The Ketamine Model of the Near Death Experience: A central role for the NMDA Receptor''. Journal of Near-Death Studies Vol. 16, No.1

★ Kelly EW. (2001)'' Near-death experiences with reports of meeting deceased people. ''Death Stud. Apr-May;25(3):229-49

★ Lange R, Greyson B, Houran J. (2004) ''A Rasch scaling validation of a 'core' near-death experience''. British Journal of Psychology, Volume: 95 Part: 2 Page: 161-177

★ Lukoff, David, Lu, Francis G. & Turner, Robert P. (1998) ''From Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Problem - The Transpersonal Roots of the New DSM-IV Category''. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 38(2), 21-50

★ Martens PR. (1994) ''Near-death-experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors. Meaningful phenomena or just fantasy of death?'' Resuscitation. Mar;27(2):171-5. PubMed abstract PMID 8029538

★ Morse M, Castillo P, Venecia D, Milstein J, Tyler DC. (1986) ''Childhood near-death experiences''. American Journal of Diseases of Children, Nov;140(11):1110-4.

★ Morse M., Conner D. and Tyler D. (1985) ''Near-Death Experiences in a pediatric population. A preliminary report'', American Journal of Disease of Children, n. 139 PubMed abstract PMID 4003364

★ Morse, Melvin (1990) ''Closer to the Light: Learning From the Near-Death Experiences of Children''. New York: Villard books

★ Morse, Melvin & Perry, Paul (1992) ''Transformed by the Light''. New York: Villard books

★ Moody, R. (1975) ''Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon - Survival of Bodily Death''. New York: Bantam

★ Moody, R. (1977) ''Reflections on Life After Life: More Important Discoveries In The Ongoing Investigation Of Survival Of Life After Bodily Death''. New York: Bantam

★ Moody, R. (1999) ''The Last Laugh: A New Philosophy of Near-Death Experiences, Apparitions, and the Paranormal''. Hampton Roads Publishing Company

★ Mullens, K. (1992) ''Returned From The Other Side''. Publ. Kenneth G. Mullens

★ Mullens, K. (1995) ''Visions From The Other Side''. Publ. Kenneth G. Mullens

★ Orne RM. (1995) ''The meaning of survival: the early aftermath of a near-death experience''. Research in Nursing & Health. 1995 Jun;18(3):239-47. PubMed abstract PMID 7754094

★ Parnia S, Waller DG, Yeates R, Fenwick P (2001) ''A qualitative and quantitative study of the incidence, features and aetiology of near death experiences in cardiac arrest survivors''. Resuscitation. Feb;48(2):149-56. PubMed abstract PMID 11426476

★ Peake, Anthony (2006) "Is There Life After Death?" (Chartwell Books in USA & Arcturus in UK)

★ Pinchbeck, Daniel (2002) ''Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism''. Broadway Books, trade paperback, 322 pages

★ Pravda (2004) ''Reanimators try to grasp the afterlife mystery''. Pravda article 21.12.2004. (Article translated by: Maria Gousseva)

★ Raaby et al. (2005) ''Beyond the Deathbed''.

★ Rivas T. (2003). The Survivalist Interpretation of Recent Studies into the Near-Death Experience. Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, 26, 1, 27-31.

★ Rodrigues, Linda Andrade (2004) ''Ex-atheist describes near-death experience''. Standard Times, Page C4, January 31, 2004

★ Sabom, Michael (1998) ''Light & Death: One Doctor's Fascinating Account of Near-Death Experiences''. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House

★ Simpson SM. (2001) ''Near death experience: a concept analysis as applied to nursing.'' Journal of Advanced Nursing. Nov;36(4):520-6. PubMed abstract PMID 11703546

★ Rick Strassman, ''DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences'', 320 pages, Park Street Press, 2001, ISBN 0-89281-927-8

★ Thomas, Shawn (2004) ''Agmatine and Near-Death Experiences''. Article published at www.neurotransmitter.net

★ Kinseher Richard (2006) ''Geborgen in Liebe und Licht - Gemeinsame Ursache von Intuition, Déjà-vu-, Schutzengel- und Nahtod-Erlebnissen'', ISBN 3-8334-51963, German Language, (A new theory: During a Near-Death-Experience, a person can observe the scan of the own episodic memory. These stored experiences are then judged by the topical intellect.)

Personal experiences

★ ''Return from Tomorrow'' by George G. Ritchie, M.D. with Elizabeth Sherrill (1978). George G. Ritchie, M.D. has held positions as president of the Richmond Academy of General Practice; chairman of the Department of Psychiatry of Towers Hospital; and founder and president of the Universal Youth Corps, Inc. He lives in Virginia. At the age of twenty, George Ritchie died in an army hospital. Nine minutes later he returned to life. What happened to him during those minutes was so compelling, it changed his life forever. In "Return from Tomorrow," he tells of his out-of-the-body encounter with other beings, his travel through different dimensions of time and space, and ultimately, his transforming meeting with the Light of the world, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Ritchie's amazing experience not only altered his view of eternity---it has since directed and governed his entire life. One of the most startling and hopeful descriptions of the realm beyond.
It was Dr. George G. Ritchie's story that first inspired Dr. Raymond Moody, PhD (who was studying at the University of Virginia, as an undergraduate in Philosophy, at the time) to first come in contact with NDEs. This led Dr. Moody to investigate over 150 cases of Near Death Experiences, in his book "Life after Life," and his two other books that followed.

★ ''Embraced by the Light'' by Betty Eadie (1992). One of the most detailed near-death experiences on record.

★ ''Saved by the Light'' by Dannion Brinkley. Brinkley's experience documents one of the most complete near death experiences, in terms of core experience and additional phenomena from the NDE scale. Brinkley was clinically dead for 28 minutes and taken to a hospital morgue.

★ ''Placebo'' by Howard Pittman (1980). A detailed record of Mr. Pittman's near-death experience.

★ ''The Darkness of God'' by John Wren-Lewis (1985), Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Psychical Research No 5. An account of the far-reaching effects of his NDE after going through the death process several times in one night.

★ Bahá'í Reinee Pasarow has presented her experiences and an extended talk which was filmed Part 1,Part2, with a partial transcript, and analyzed from a religious point of view in a Commentary and analyzed as part of the paper The Exploration of Life After Death. Pasarow was interviewed by Dr. Kenneth Ring.^[35]

★ Anita Moorjani, an ethnic Indian woman from Hong Kong experienced a truly remarkable NDE which has been documented on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) website as one of the most exceptional accounts on their archives. She had end-stage cancer and on February 2, 2006, doctors told her family that she only had a few hours to live. Following her NDE, Anita experienced a remarkable total recovery of her health. Her full story can be read at www.nderf.org titled "Anita M's NDE".

★ Goldie Hawn, while giving a speech at the Buell Theater in Denver, Colorado, reflected upon her near-death experience. When she was younger, and starting out as an actress, she and a group of friends were in a severe car crash together. While she was unconscious, she remembers looking over herself while the paramedics were trying to revive her. She also mentioned seeing a bright light and being told it was not her time soon before she awoke.

Fiction

★ In ''Passage'', a 2001 novel by Connie Willis, the principal storyline centers around a researcher who has developed a technique for inducing an experience very much like a natural NDE. By studying the effects and comparing them with real NDEs, she hopes to find a biological basis for NDEs.

★ In the end of ''Scorpia'', 5th installment in the Alex Rider series, Alex Rider, the protagonist, is shot near the heart by a sniper, collapses and sees his deceased parents appear before him in bright light, before losing consciousness.

★ The novel ''Fearless'' (1993) by Rafael Yglesias is about an architect that survives a planecrash. His near-death experience starts a period of fearlessness and existential concerns which puts him in conflict with both his family and the surrounding culture. The book was later adapted to the screen by director Peter Weir, starring Jeff Bridges as the main character, Max Klein. See ''Fearless (film)''.

★ The French novel ''Les Thanatonautes'' by Bernard Werber is about a group of scientists trying to study life after death by using drugs to throw them into cardiac arrest. It is the beginning of a successful trilogy including L'Empire des Anges and Nous, Les Dieux.

★ Another French novel, "Le Serment des Limbes" by Jean Christophe Grangé, deals with negative NDE and its impact on devil worshipping.

★ The movie ''Flatliners'' (1990) is about a group of medical students who want to study the near-death experience. They volunteer to clinically die and be revived by their fellow students. However, their experiment begins to go awry.

★ In Final Destination 2, Kimberly Corman has a life review before dying. Later she is saved by Ellen Kallarjian.

★ In the movie ''Stay'' (2005) the character of Henry (Ryan Gosling) has a NDE that lasts throughout the entire film. As he lies dying after a car crash that killed the rest of his family his mind wanders between life and death. Henry's final minutes of his life extended into a dream that lasts several days in his mind. He sees the illusion through the eyes of the man who is trying to keep him alive (Ewan McGregor).

★ In the game '', Naked Snake undergoes a NDE after falling into the river, almost drowning in the process.

★ In the movie '' (2007), the sequel of ''White Noise'' (2005), the main character Abe Dale (Nathan Fillion) has a NDE after his suicide attempt. His spirit separates from his body. His consciousness then floats through a grey tunnel at the end of which there is a bright light to be found. It shines upon his murdered wife and child who are already expecting him. His astral body is pulled back into his physical body after a successful resuscitation.

★ In the Christian film ''Escape from Hell'', a man attempts to prove Heaven's existence by purposefully placing himself in cardiac arrest. However, he finds himself in a completely different place: Hell.

External links

Advocacy

★ International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS)

★ Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF)

★ University of Wales, Lampeter Press release: A Near Death Experience

★ SpiritualTravel Explaining Neath-death Experiences Objections on current scientific arguments

★ Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife Near-Death.com

★ High Gravity Causes of NDE Near-Death.com

★ Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands Lommel, Hospital Rijnstate

★ A Reply to Shermer: Medical Evidence for NDEs Lommel, Division of Cardiology - Hospital Rijnstate

★ Does Mind Survive Physical Death? Fontana, Cardiff University and Liverpool John Moores University

★ Who's Afraid of Life After Death? Why NDE Evidence is Ignored Grossman, Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)

★ How Stuff Works - Near Death Experience

★ BBC Documentary about Near Death Experience

★ News for the Soul, Archived Webradio Interview with P.M.H. Atwater and Dannion Brinkley on NDE research (mp3 realplayer set at 20, 32, 42 min.)

★ With Good Reason by VFH Radio with Bruce Greyson, November 2006

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 1 The Near Death Experiences of Howard Storm, Ned Dougherty, and Dr. George Rodonaia (video documentary)

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 2

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 3

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 4

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 5

★ The Near Death Chronicles Part 6

★ Thoughtful Living, a study of near death experiences

Neutral

★ Scientists find proof of near-death experiences - UK newspaper article

★ Near Death Experience Man - humorous webcomic about a super hero

★ Using Ketamine to Induce the Near-Death Experience:Mechanism of Action and Therapeutic Potential - Dr. Karl L. R. Jansen MD, PhD, MRCPsych

★ University of Virginia Health System - Division of Personality Studies

Skeptical

★ A Special Report: What Is Betty Eadie Hiding? Christian Research Institute Journal

★ Skepdic Article

★ Near-Death Experiences: In or out of the body? - Susan Blackmore, Published in Skeptical Inquirer 1991, 16, 34-45

★ The Ketamine Model of the Near Death Experience:A Central Role for the NMDA Receptor - Dr. Karl L. R. Jansen MD, PhD, MRCPsych