With all the points of view about near-death experiences, it can be difficult to sift out facts from opinions. Here, for the sake of convenience, is a brief listing of what the research has shown about NDEs.
1. Reports of experiences like NDEs, both splendid and harrowing, have come from around the world, going back to antiquity.
2. Although the great majority of NDE accounts describe pleasant, even glorious, experiences, a study of research reports indicates that as many as one in five may be disturbing.
3. Both pleasant and distressing NDEs are likely to include: an out-of-body experience; movement, often with a sense of speed, to areas with special qualities of light or dark; a landscape; encountering one or more presences; intense emotion; sometimes transcendence; sometimes a specific message. Some experiences include more of these elements than others. Distressing NDE reports typically lack three elements that may appear in a pleasant NDE: a life review, positive emotional tone, and loss of the fear of death. [Read more…] about 15 things we know about distressing NDEs