What is a Near-Death Experience or ‘NDE’?

What is a near-death experience, and what do we know about them? Let’s go over the basics of NDEs in this overview of these extraordinary events.

What is a near-death experience, exactly? A near-death experience, or “NDE”, is a profound experience resulting from a close encounter with death. During NDEs, people have experiences that seem fantastical or even impossible. But for the people actually having them, these are incredibly vivid, hyper-real events. They’re as real as anything they’ve encountered in Earthly life, or even more real.

NDEs are the result of near-death episodes—extreme physiological or psychological conditions during which a person is temporarily clinically dead, near death, or in a situation where death is likely or expected. This includes physical illness or injury, harrowing experiences like combat, or even being clinically dead for a period of time.

There are also experiences quite similar or even identical to NDEs known as near-death-like experiences. These can be brought on by profound grief or in states of deep meditation or extreme physical exertion. These suggest a potentially broader phenomenon not linked directly with physical death.

Read More: Near-death experiences (NDEs): Fundamentals you need to know

What is a near-death experience like?

Reported NDEs fit into one of two categories. The first type, “pleasurable” NDEs, are coupled with feelings of love, joy, peace, or bliss. These are the most common. A minority of NDEs are second “distressing” type, with feelings of terror, horror, anger, isolation, or guilt.

NDEs typically share common NDE features, regardless of whether they’re pleasurable or distressing. These features include:

  • Having an out-of-body experience
  • Rapidly moving through darkness, a void, or a tunnel, often toward a light
  • Encounters with deceased loved ones, spiritual beings or religious figures, pets, or indescribable beings
  • A “life review”, during which a person sees a replay of life events and may even interpret how those events made others feel

The aftereffects of a near-death experience can result in major changes in world views, lifestyles, and more. It’s very common for an individual to lose their fear of death following an NDE.

Are near-death experiences hallucinations?

Research into near-death experiences has been ongoing since the 1970s, and NDEs have not yet been explained by modern medicine or science. It’s a common misconception that NDEs are little more than hallucinations. But hallucinations aren’t typically vivid, detailed, or realistic, nor do they typically last in a person’s mind years or decades later.

The simple truth is that we don’t yet fully understand near-death experiences. So this question of what is a near-death experience is one we can’t yet fully answer. But researchers in the scientific community of near-death studies won’t stop until we understand what near-death experiences are, what causes them, and what they mean.

IANDS is committed to researching NDEs and related experiences. And we strive to educated experiencers and the general public, make science accessible and transparent, and normalize conversations regarding NDEs, too. The more people who understand that NDEs are real, the more support our science community gets in helping find solutions to all of these pressing, fascinating questions.

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