The true meaning of “near-death” experiences has been debated for a long time, with some saying that they are proof of an afterlife and skeptics saying they are merely the effects of oxygen deprivation on the brain.
Researchers from the combined universities of New York, King’s College London, Harvard, California, and Southampton are taking a serious look at the phenomenon and are trying to find some answers.
For years most legitimate researchers have put those who claimed to see a tunnel of light or felt as though they were floating above their bodies while on the brink of death down to fringe science.
But it’s time for near-death experiences to be taken seriously, this combined group of international researchers says. The group of experts have estimated that millions of people across the globe who have been between life and death have inhabited a certain “grey zone,” and the commonalities of their experiences are too huge to ignore and bares serious examination.
Speaking about the research, the lead author of the consensus statement Dr. Sam Parnia who is the director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said that those who explain their near-death experiences are often not believed.
He told the UK paper The Telegraph, “People from all over the world who have come close to death report unique transcendent experiences, but these accounts are often poo-pooed as weird anecdotes or something triggered by the brain shutting down.”
Dr. Parnia continued, “There hasn’t been a single common definition for what people experience, and the term ‘near-death experience’ has been used interchangeably to refer to dreams or drug-induced hallucinations when it is something entirely different. We took hundreds of peoples’ experiences and merged them together so that we could pull out clusters of experiences and come up with a common definition.”
Now, the team of experts have proposed that the term ‘near-death experiences’ should be changed to “Recalled Experience of Death” which will be shortened to “RED.”
To determine whether an experience is an authentic case of RED, they’ve set out six components that people have to meet.
The six components are:
- The experience must be linked to death
- It has to involve a loss of consciousness
- Bring a sense of transcendence
- Be somewhat indescribable
- Bring a positive transformation
- Be free of other coma-related experiences (including dreams and delirium)
These guidelines have been put in place to separate REDs from other phenomena, such as those who have been in a coma and reported dreams of briefly waking without realizing and being unable to recall the events that happened around them; this is called post-intensive care syndrome (PICS).
The research, which will be published soon according to Dr. Parnia, shows that roughly 15 percent of people who’ve been resuscitated from unconsciousness and unresponsiveness after suffering from a cardiac arrest have a Recalled Experience of Death.
While many have recalled leaving their body but still being aware of “self,” some have claimed to be able to see in all directions along with hovering in space and occasionally connected to their own body by a cord.
Some have said they’ve been drawn through a tunnel, while others have seen their lives in review and how their actions while living impacted others.
Those who have experienced REDs often wake up no longer scared of death and feel changed and determined to better their lives.
The researchers have stated that this is different from dreams, illusions, and hallucinations, as they all share a common and universal theme.
“Death is so fundamental to everything we do that it’s important to take an objective look in an unbiased and fully scientific way about what it means.”
It was deemed impossible to explore death until the 1960s, when these kinds of experienced were discovered once techniques could be employed by doctors to restart hearts that have arrested.
Due to advances in science, we’re able to find new ways to bring people on the brink of death “back to life” and monitor what’s happening to them during that time.
Other studies have shown that physical and mental processes do indeed continue, sometimes for hours or even longer after clinical death. This is potentially providing a window for life-changing altered states of awareness.
However, the authors of this latest research are quick to point out that while it may not be possible to prove the reality of claims from patients, it’s also impossible to “disprove them.”
Writing in the new paper, which was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, the authors state, “While understanding death and what happens when we die remains a mystery, this may now be a mystery that is amenable to unbiased and objective scientific scrutiny.”
I have died and returned three times so far in my 67 years. I remember every single thing that took place the last time and no recollections at all about the first two. As for transformational, I can say, for me, it’s been a slow process. My understanding increases over time, the revelations are sparsed out. I will say we seriously need to lighten up. This Earth experience and that “other place” experience is not at all what we think they are.
I was “there” the indescribable place and feeling, totally relaxed and I recall not even feeling my shoulder blades pressing on the bed, wonder ful nothingness, just “there “, . when a fight began right in front of my face . Then I heard my wifel oudly yelling, “No, no, no.”I used my hand to push the sheet away and asked “What in hell is going on here”? A man’s voice said, “Keep him talking ,don’t let him go back to sleep”. And I am still talking, (incessantly, )some would no doubt say. Marcus Durwood McAnally, 2060 River Plate Drive, Pahrump, nevada.