Yeah, all that. Affirmations, prayers, positive incantations, and general good vibes relative to this project will be appreciated.
Preparing for the IANDS conference at Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in 2006, I did a detailed review of the research literature 1975-2005 to see what various studies had said about distressing NDEs. The findings were distributed as handouts but were not included in the published report in The Near-Death Handbook. Some readers here may be interested. In the next post, I’ll comment on them.
Note: Please keep in mind that figures for “n NDE” and “n dNDE” are the numbers of experiences reported, not necessarily the actual number of experiences. Under-reporting, especially of distressing NDEs, has been recognized as common. (Hoffman, Greyson-Bush, Bache, Bush, Clark Sharp)
| Study | Population /type | n NDE | n dNDE | % | Findings; author’s words | Comment |
| R. Moody19751978 | AnecdotalSelf-selected from general pop |
50 | 0 | 0 | In the mass of material I have collected no one has ever described … a state like the archetypal hell. Reflections 10 | Theclassic on NDE, established the pattern & the fieldMentions ‘no archetypal hell’ but does not exclude other types of dNDE |
| K. Ring1980 | QuantitativeSelf-selected general | 46 | 0 | 0 | … sometimes …feeling scared or confused near … beginning of their experience, none felt that they …either were on their way to hell or …had “fallen into” it. …affective tone and the visionary aspects of the near-death experience … predominantly and highly positive. 192-93 [Frightening features] appear to have been, in the main, hallucinatory visions 195 | First quantified study of NDE, introduced Weighted Core Experience Index (WCEI)Beyond descriptive data, speculative as to mechanics and purpose of NDE (holographic universe) |
| Sutherland | Self-selected general | 50 | 0 | 0 | No mention | Modified WCEI, interp ‘grounded theory’ |
Medical, prospective |
||||||
| Study | Population/type | n NDE | n dNDE | % | Findings | Comment |
| Sabom | In-patient | 78 | 0 | 0 | “In my sample …I did not encounter a “hellish” NDE . . . Since [then], I have encountered a few distressing NDEs…” ** | **Sabom JNDS 14(3) 208 |
| vanLommel | Cardiac arrest | 62 | 0 | 0 | “No patients reported distressing or frightening NDE” | |
| Parnia et al2001 | Cardiac arrest | 7 | 0 | 0 | No mention | Greyson scale |
| Greyson 2003 |
Cardiac in-pts | 27 | 0 | 0 | No mention | FNDE questions not asked |
| Schwaninger 2005 | Cardiac arrest | 11 | 0 | 0 | “None of the NDErs reported resignation, curiosity, anxiety, fear, anger, dread, despair, or anguish” | WCEI & Greyson |
| 8 | n=331 | 0 | 0% | |||
| Name | Pop | n NDE | n fNDE | % | Findings | Comment |
| Garfield1979 | Cancer patients | 47 | 22 | <50 | 4 types: classic radiant; demonic or nightmarish images; dreamlike images –“blissful,” “terrifying,” or alternating; Void, tunnel, or both (contrast between freedom/ constraint). Almost as many of the dying patients interviewed reported negative visions (demons and so forth) as reported blissful experiences, while some reported both | Additional survey of 36 cardiac patients over 3 interviews showed consistency of recall (contrary to Rawlings) |
| Evergreen1981 | Self-selectclinical death or believed self died & back | 55 | 11 | 20 | One (<2%) hellish; fiery pit, devil. 18% “negative”: “…extreme fear, panic, anger…visions of demonic creatures that threaten or taunt”; most transform to positive NDE, but some positive become negative | First academic study following Ring LADInterview, WCEI |
| Gallup1982 | Random sample, national poll | Not given | 1- <28 |
1% sense of hell or torment; but “picture is more complex than that. [M]any…had either a neutral or negative experience.”Void; nothingness; uncaring God; being tricked or duped; featureless, forbidding figures; confusion, fear of death | Popular broad (& erroneous) reference to the 1% as total of distressing NDEs; instead, it is a single mention of elements of biblical hell (“gnashing teeth, searing flames”).“Many” others in the sample neutral or distressing but not hellish by Gallup definition. | |
| Evans Bush1983 | Most self-selected, 2 mothers |
17 | 2 | 12 | 1 child in darkness, threatened by mysterious presence1 child met “the devil” but rebuffed him | First report of NDE/dNDE in children, based on retrospective accounts, 2 mothers of then-4-year-olds |
| Grey1985 | NDErs | 41 | 5 | 12 | “extreme fear or panic…anguish…lost… desolation…traditional fire/ devil |
First attempt to document dNDEs. Gave explicit definitions, descriptions |
| Serdahely1995 | Non-random NDErs | 12 | 4 | 33 | “Frightening, scary, unpleasant” but no hellish images | Two other (secondhand) reports include hellish imagery |
| Knoblauch et al 2001 | Random German national poll | 82 | c 36 | 43 | Structure differs from classic NDE ; accounts are scenic more than narrative, less emotional; later, improved outlook but not major moral life changesdNDE: More E Ger (60%/) than W Ger (29%) |
Culturally anomalous |
| 7 | 254 | c 80 | c 17% |
| Study | Population/type | n NDE | n dNDE | % | Findings | Comment |
| Rawlings1978,1993 | AnecdotalMost cardiac in-patients | “Several hundred”*33*15 | *12*32 | 3948 | Interview immediately post-resuscitation or NDE will be repressed, forgotten or recalled as pleasantLiteralist Christian: Accounts taken as evidence of biblical hell, urgent need for salvation | * Sabom calculations (JNDS 14(3))Vivid accounts but shaky data: factual errors; accounts inconsistent in retelling; conclusions not replicated by othersIntent is to rescue non-believers more than to provide research data. |
| Greyson-Bush1993 | Self-selected | 50 | 50 | 100 | No single “dNDE” but three types: classic elements perceived as terrifying; Void; images of traditional hell | First analytical study of exclusively dNDE accounts; reports patterns but does not speculate as to causes |
| Atwater1994 | AnecdotalGenl. NDErs | 700 277 |
105 | 14 | Void, limbo, hellish, indifference; seem to have deeply suppressed/repressed guilts, fears, angers/ expect punishment or discomfort at death | Strongly attuned to experiencer perspectives. Insightful and wide-ranging, though undocumented, exploration of dNDEs, marked by metaphysical pronouncements of cause, effect, and mechanics of phenomena. |
| Rommer2000 | NDErs | 300 | 53 | >18 | “feelings of terror, despair, guilt, and/or other overwhelming aloneness”“Every [distressing near-death] experience I have studied has been transforming” | Perhaps the best collection of dNDE reports, but projects own beliefs onto experiencers; draws conclusions without substantiation: “He had no life review because it wasn’t necessary.” |
| 4 | 1,375 | 252 |
Totals
n NDE |
n dNDE | % dNDE | ||||
| All categories | 1,910 | 332 | 17 |
A reader says he knows about “all the negative traits a person’s character can contain that could trigger a negative NDE.” But now he is curious. What if the cause isn’t related to some spiritual fault? What if, before an operation, a person is scared to death? What if there’s been an accident, and a person is afraid he’s going to die?
The question is, “Could justifiable fear in a crucial moment cause a distressing NDE?”
The answer, I’m sorry to say, is the same as for so many questions about near-death experiences and their close relatives: We don’t know. Nobody knows. There is no data that would help answer these questions.
However, we can make some assumptions.
For one thing, there is no hard evidence that character traits “cause” any type of NDE. The list of character traits that people assume help to create a distressing NDE include: being hostile, cold, repressed, suppressed, unloving, controlling, rigid, sinful, guilt-ridden, non-God-loving, fearful, mean. Although authors, even some researchers, have said those traits are connected to distressing NDEs, no testable evidence has been produced in support; the list is based on guesswork, assumptions, and experiencers’ self-assessments (“I think I was unloving”), not on factual evidence.
By contrast, there are individuals with a perfect fit to those descriptions who have had pleasant, even blissful NDEs. Some describe themselves as having been unloving, even hostile, before the NDE, whereas afterward they have become open and affectionate. On the other hand, some kindly, friendly, peaceful, religious, loving people have had a really difficult experience. Perhaps there are subtle factors we don’t know about or can’t capture that make a difference; but in broad terms, the observable characteristics of a person simply do not always match up to the type of NDE.
I believe the same is true with the question of whether justifiable fear might cause a distressing NDE. Some women happy to be delivering a baby have had extremely unpleasant NDEs. And some people who say they were terrified and half-expecting to die during open heart surgery have had glorious NDEs. The thought does not always produce the corresponding effect.
At the same time, although the evidence does not support making a general rule about causation, healthcare workers know that optimism and calm are likely to be more helpful attitudes in a crisis than anxiety and agitation. The positive attitudes may have nothing to do with near-death experiences, but they will certainly help the person’s psychological status both before and after the crisis.
OK, so I’m back. IANDS–the International Association for Near-Death Studies–just had its 30th anniversary conference. Thirty years. A miracle! Now my challenge is to settle down after all the excitement and that incredibly high energy level and put the interconnectedness into practice.
From my perspective, several trends stand out:
Yes, it’s small; but we take what we can get and are grateful. The ‘Sample chapter’ link at the menu bar is now properly configured and includes Chapter 2, “The Other Shoe.” Love those support forums!
We left our researchers waiting for the other shoe to fall. See the “Sample chapter” link, above, to follow the adventure.
“Enlightenment consists not merely in the seeing of luminous shapes and visions, but in making the darkness visible.”
~ Carl Jung
