Near-death experiences may have scientific explanations. Some common ones include:
Oxygen Deprivation
Neurotransmitters in the body
Adverse effects of a possible drug
Oxygen deprivation: A bright light may be seen during a NDE; Most of the time it is described as light at the end of a tunnel. Science has tried to explain this phenomenon as possible oxygen deprivation to the brain. Since vision loss occurs first in the peripheries and moves central, people may just be seeing the loss of vision accompanied by oxygen deprivation.
Neurotransmitters in the body: People describe their NDE as a peaceful and pleasant experience. Science has tried to explain this shift of mood and euphoria through neurotransmitters. When the body is close to death, many chemicals in the body get released all at once, such as endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and such. Due to the abundance of them, the body may be under heavy euphoria, which explains why the feelings felt during an experience is so pleasant.
Adverse effects of a possible drug: Drugs such as digoxin, a very common drug for people suffering from heart problems, can cause blurred vision or halos around the eye. Illicit drugs also have a side effect of hallucinations.
These explanations have drawbacks. For example, oxygen deprivation has been linked with periods of delirium and confusion, and most experiences are described as serene and focused. the feeling of being dead is not limited to near-death experiences—patients with Cotard or “walking corpse” syndrome hold the delusional belief that they are deceased. This disorder has occurred following trauma, such as during advanced stages of typhoid and multiple sclerosis, and has been linked with brain regions such as the parietal cortex and the prefrontal cortex.
We encourage you to read these articles with an open-mind, always remembering that science will not always have the answers to every question.
Steve Taylor , a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University in UK. Also the author of ‘Spiritual science’. He defines “A Near Death Experience is when a person appears to be clinically ‘dead’ for a short period when their heart stops beating, their brain registers no sign of activity, and other vital sign indicate death and yet they report a continuation of consciousness. this mat happen following a cardiac arrest, for example-for a few seconds or minutes a person may show no biological sign of life, and yet when they resuscitated, report a series of remarkable experiences.”
Dr Melvin Morse , a pediatrician, and associate professor of university of Washington, explained ‘Near Death Experiences are spiritual events primarily reported by survivors of cardiac arrest, profound comas, and near fatal accidents. Their importance lies in documenting that the process of dying is spiritual and emotionally dynamic, and even if patients appears to be unconscious. These experiences can be invaluable in empowering dying patients and their families to understand death and heal grief. There is considerable cultural variation of the experience depending on the personal life, history, age, religious background, and interviewers belief system. The current debate over whether Near Death Experiences imply and objectively real heaven or soul obscures the fact that they are as real as any other human emotion and ability.
Dr Raymond Moody, known as the dean of near death experience studies. He is a philosopher, psychologist, physician and author of several books. he defined- ‘Near Death Experience is patterned experience people have after dying or almost dying. Different people have different experience. There are some striking commonalities, but not exactly the same. Most people have experience of leaving their own bodies, and they actually can see their own bodies from above when their body is resuscitated. They walk pass down through a dark tunnel and come out into a brilliant, warm, and loving light. The surprising part is that they see deceased family members, friends, and loving person in a spirit form. Often they under grow a panoramic and holographic review of their lives in which they witness everything they’ve they have done from an external point of view. Often, this life review happens in the presence of a being of love and light.
A strange Sound: a buzzing, or ringing noise while having a sense of being dead.
Peace and Painlessness: While people are dying, they may be in intense pain, but as soon as the leave the body the pain vanishes and they experience peace.
Out of Body Experience: The dying often have the sensation of rising up and floating above their own body. They experience the feeling of being in a spiritual body that appears to be a sort of leaving energy field.
The Tunnel Experience: This experience is that of being drawn into darkness through a tunnel, at an extremely high speed, until reaching a realm of radiant-golden white light. Also, although they sometimes report feeling scared, they do not sense that were on the way to hell or that they fell into it.
Rising Rapidly into The Heaven: Some people report rising suddenly into the heavens and seeing the Earth and the celestial sphere as they would be seen by astronauts in space.
People of Light: Once on the other side of the tunnel, the dying meet people who glow with an inner light. Often they find that friends and relatives who have already died are there to greet them.
The Being of Light: The dying often meet a powerful spiritual being whom some have identified as God, Jesus, or some religious figure.
The life Review: The being of light presents the dying with a panoramic review of everything they have ever done. That is, they relive every act they have ever done to other people and away feeling hat love is the most important thing in life.
Reluctance to return: The being of light sometimes tells the dying that they must return to life. Other times, they are given a choice of staying or returning. In either case, they are reluctant to return. The people who choose to return do so only because of loved ones they do not wish to leave behind.
An Example of Near Death Experiences with The Being of Light
“I knew I was dying and that there was nothing I could do about it, because no one could hear me. I was out of my body, there’s no doubt about it because I could see my own body, there on the operation room table. My soul was out! All this made me feel very bad at first, but then this really bright light came. It did seem that it was a little dim at first, but then it was this huge beam. It was just a tremendous amount of light, nothing like a big bright flashlight. It was just too much light. And, it gave off heat to me. I felt a warm sensation.
It was a bright yellowish white more white. It was tremendously bright. I just can’t describe it. It seemed that it covered everything. I could see clearly, and it covered everything. i could see clearly, and it wasn’t blinding. At first, when the light came i wasn’t sure what was happening, but then, it asked, it kind of asked me if I was ready to die. It was like talking to a person, but a person wasn’t there. The lights what was talking to me, but in a voice. Now, I think that the voice was talking to me actually realized that I wasn’t ready to die. It was just kind of testing me more than anything else. Yet, from the moment the light spoke to me, I felt very good, secure and loved. The love which came from it is just unimaginable and indescribable. It was a fun person to be with! And it had a sense of humor too.
Do Children Have Near Death Experience?
Yes, about 85% of children who experience cardiac arrest have an NDE. With improving cardiac resuscitation techniques, more and more children are surviving cardiac arrest. More children who have had NDEs are alive today than ever before, and the number is likely to increase because of improved resuscitative techniques. Apparently, youngsters of any age can have an NDE. Very young children, as soon as they are able to speak, have reported NDEs they had as infants or in the process of being born.
What Type of Near Death Experiences do Children have?
76% reported a comforting “initial” experience. Such experiences involved up to three elements, things like a loving nothingness, a friendly voice, a visitation by a loving being, an out-of-body experience, and/or the peacefulness of either a safe light or safe dark place
19% reported a pleasurable or heaven-like experience
3% reported a distressing or hell-like experience
2% had a “transcendent” experience in which they felt they acquired special knowledge.
Dr Melvin Morse had documented near death experiences on critically ill children, and the video also showing some pictures about near death experience drawn by children:
An Experience of a Children on Near Death:
A five years old boy had a tracheotomy for severe tracheomalacia. He had a total of three cardiac arrests during his life, at age 4 months, 8 months, and 2 years. At age 3, when his parents Christmas pageant, he began protesting, saying the figure on the stage was ‘not my Jesus’. By age 5, he reported to his parents that when he was an infant, he almost died. He floated out of his body, and ans saw his grand mother and mother hugging each other and crying. He continued to straight up until he saw a dark tunnel. he perceived himself as cowling down the tunnel and entering into a brightly lit heavenly realm, where he ‘ran and double jumped with God.’ His parents and he believe that this experience occurred during his respiratory arrest at age 8 months, which was long and complex, requiring 45 minutes of chest compression.
People start believing in many things after near death experience. The after effects of a near-death experience include a list of things that are very complex and may impact every aspect of the experiencer’s functioning. It often takes many years to individuals to positively incorporate these changes into their life.
After a near-death experience, many people often have a fear of telling people about the experience because other people have not experienced what they have and might not be able to understand where they are coming from. They are afraid of coming off as weird. People who have been through this experience say that their lives have been changed forever because of what happened to them.
Psychological Changes that occur after a Near Death Experience:
They love and accept others without any judgment, they treat everyone with kindness equally
Old norms and standards fade as new interest takes priority
They become highly intuitive afterward and have feelings such as plants talking and animals speaking
They go through personality reversals. People who used to be overachievers tend to turn into easy going people. And relaxed and calm people become energetic and are determined to make a difference in the world.
Loss of the fear of death
Lose belief in religion
A new awareness of meaning and purpose in their lives
Increased self-esteem
Re-examine their current relationships, often times married couples end up in a divorce
Reduce in suicide tendency
Less materialistic and more altruistic
More sensitive to the beauty around them and appreciative of everyday things
Physiological Changes:
Sensitivity to light and sound
Electrical sensitivity meaning they can feel the energy from electrical and technological equipment. Such as “televisions changing without anyone’s control and light bulbs popping”
Many say they have to relearn how to use their body and brain again
After effects in Children after a Near Death Experience:
Altered biological pattern
Parent and child bond becomes distant or closer
Distress from news reports or any violence on TV
Often become of service to others and want to volunteer
Spirituality and a hunger for new knowledge
Appear more mature
Difficulty relating to other children
Communication with spirits
Sensitivity to medication, bright lights, and sounds
People often talk about their NDEs being in heaven and all warm and light but there are also people who go into what they make as a hell. People who experience the hell NDE say that their sense of smell is heightened and they smell sulfur or that it is hard to breathe. People report being held in chains or in a cage behind bars, usually, there is some sort of fire or heat source some say lava, people are screaming in agony and they see violence all around them.
They report seeing different types of demons ones that have claws or wings or even ones that have reptilian skin and sharp teeth. One person said they saw people begging for their vices but never being able to get them. Some people report hell as being dark and wet, they said it was disgusting and slimy. Overall people reported hell being terrifying painful and never wanting to go back there.
Matthew Botsford
Matthew Botsford and his wife both were not believers before his accident but after Matthew when to hell and back he became a minister. Matthew Botsford was in a coma for after a couple of gunshot to the back of the head. He found himself in hell in full body form in the midst of an abyss. He talked about how he was in chains, mocked, and smelling his flesh burn off. This is a quote from him about his time on hell; “Some of them would come around my backside and they had had very long fingernail if you could call them that and I would feel them stretch out off of its very flesh. They were doing everything to me,” All of a sudden he saw a hand of light reach out into the pit to save him.
NDE True Stories
Here are two accounts of NDE ‘s where the people ended up in their own versions of hell. The first one is about George Ritchie: George one night, got sick with pneumonia and died. The doctor in charge declared Ritchie dead after there was no heart rate and no breathing. Ritchie entered into a near-death experience wandering around the hospital and did not know that he was dead. He found it strange no one could see him. He went back to his room and saw his dead body covered by a sheet. The room then became bright and Ritchie found himself looking at Jesus who then took him to many places of the afterlife before being told to return to his body. As the ward was preparing Ritchie’s body for the morgue, the doctor thought he detected movement in Ritchie’s chest and called for a medical officer who provided a shot of adrenaline which ultimately leads to Ritchie regaining a heart rate and his breathing came back too. The next Howard Storm: Howard Storm was an atheist and described himself as cruel before he died and had an NDE. Instead of going to heaven like most NDE’s Howard was being torturously dragged to excruciating realms of darkness and death, where he was physically assaulted by evil demons. He went through pure torture and pain, he was then taken away from hell and transported to his idea of heaven. He met angelic beings as
well as the God of Creation. Storm wrote a book about his journey and his conversation with God. After his trip to heaven, he became a minister
Near Death Experiences have been recorded in multiple books and even some movies. These are just a few of the more popular books about NDE’s and two of the books were even adapted into movies.
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife (Eben Alexander)
To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story (Mary C. Neal Md)
Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon-Survival of Bodily Death (Raymond A. Moody Jr)
Heaven is for real ( Todd Burpo)
Miracles from heaven (Randy B)
For the first book, Proof of heaven is about a neurosurgeon who went into a coma after inflicting damage to his brain and right when they were going to pull the plug on him he opened his eyes. He talks about how he spoke to a divine entity who is the source of the universe.
The next book is called To heaven and back is an orthopedics story of where she went after she drowned in a kayak accident and came back after. She was transferred to a heavenly place in the presence of angels and Jesus and experienced God’s love
Life after life is a book that is written by Moody where he talks About the study of over 100 people who had NDEs and what their stories are. This has many of the real trials of people have gone through NDE’s.
These last two books are not fully NDE because they both didn’t have their heart flatline but they still went to their version of heaven. Heaven is for real is a book about a child Colton Burpo who had an out of body experience, he didn’t die so technically it isn’t an NDE but he is important later on and this book was also made into a movie. Miracles from heaven is also not technically an NDE but the little girl should have sustained multiple life-threatening injuries when she didn’t and she saw Jesus too.
There is a painting that was illustrated by Akiane Kramarik who drew this at 8 years old who was having visions of Jesus since she was 4. The painting is recognized by many people as the face of Jesus when Colton Burpo went through his experience in heaven he that the painting was who he saw in heaven. The painting is well known around the world.
Caregivers play a crucial role in helping to recover from childhood NDER:
As a nurse we can be alert after cardiac arrest recovery of a child if the child has that experience or not.
Listen actively and show receptivity when a child describes near-death-like features.
Trust child’s reality about returning to their body, and child’s communication with spirits and respect the child’s confidentiality
GENTLY ask open-ended questions.
A nurse should be careful when and with whom it is safe to talk about their NDE-related experiences.
Be prepared to guide the child through the changes and phases of adjustment.
Become knowledgeable about NDEs through reading, talking with NDErs, etc.
Be prepared to support the child’s increased interest in spirituality that may be expressed through increased church attendance, desire for prayer and grace.
Expect the child to initiate deep conversations about meaning and purpose in life.
Consider encouraging the child to write and/or draw about both their NDE.
Withdrawal, depression, alcohol/drug abuse, and/or suicidal tendencies are the signs of significant difficulty adjusting after the NDE. Seeking professional help from a counselor knowledgeable about NDEs, art and music therapy, play therapy may be helpful.
Participate in volunteer activities with the child.
For adults, proper diagnosis and treatment simply involves understanding the content and course of an NDE and then engaging in:
a systematic inquiry;
sympathetic listening;
validation;
education of the patient and family; and
referral to books and organizations, such as IANDS, that can nurture the patient and their family.
https://bit.ly/2P2wtoH
Dr. Elaine Drysdale discusses the importance of training for medical professionals to recognize their patients’ near death experiences. She comments on the effectiveness of the training video, “Near-Death Experience, What Medical Professionals need to know:-
People often talk about their NDEs being in heaven and all warm and light but there are also people who go into what they make as a hell. People who experience the hell NDE say that their sense of smell is heightened and they smell sulfur or that it is hard to breathe. People report being held in chains or in a cage behind bars, usually, there is some sort of fire or heat source some say lava, people are screaming in agony and they see violence all around them.
He found it strange no one could see him. He went back to his room and saw his dead body covered by a sheet. The room then became bright and Ritchie found himself looking at Jesus who then took him to many places of the afterlife before being told to return to his body. As the ward was preparing Ritchie’s body for the morgue, the doctor thought he detected movement in Ritchie’s chest and called for a medical officer who provided a shot of adrenaline which ultimately leads to Ritchie regaining a heart rate and his breathing came back too. The next 
Instead of going to heaven like most NDE’s Howard was being torturously dragged to excruciating realms of darkness and death, where he was physically assaulted by evil demons. He went through pure torture and pain, he was then taken away from hell and transported to his idea of heaven. He met angelic beings as
