Near Death Experience: psychology or philosophy?

Here we will make a short discussion on NDE cases.

Background:

Near-Death experience (NDE) following a severe head injury, critical illness, coma, and suicidal attempt has been reported.

An estimated 774 near-death experiences occur in the United States every day, according to the International Association for Near-Death Studies, a non-profit based in Durham, NC.

Methods:

 The details of 3 cases of patients who reported near-death experience (NDE), is presented here. Several theories regarding the reasons, of the various components of the experiences, are discussed with a brief review of literature.

Results:

All the three patients report the out of body experience OBE. All the three patients reported to remember initially the events that took place during this time, but after some time all three patients could not recall exactly the events that had happened.

Conclusion: 

whether they are just hallucinations or proof of an afterlife will be debated until additional information is released.

Introduction:

Up from the earth’s centre through the seventh gate I rose, and on the throne of Saturn sate, And many Knots unravel’d by the road; But not the knot of human death and fate. Rubaiyat (Omar Khayyam/E. Fitz Gerald-1859)

 Patient 1: 

A 30 year postgraduate, Hindu, married woman with a 5 month old baby was brought to emergency in Glasgow. She was operated for acute subdural hematoma of left side. During this period of unconsciousness she described that she was in a brilliant light in which she floated. She then went to 'heaven' where there were a pantheon of Gods with 'hierarchy' There was the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva but even they were in hierarchy 'junior' to 'Om' She could recall what had been earlier discussed between doctors about technical matters regarding ventilator, endotracheal tube and tracheostomy. Over the next 7 years she has slowly forgotten most of her description but her belief has persisted.

Patient 2:

Pam Reynolds Lowery, from Atlanta, Georgia, was an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, at the age of 35, she stated that she had a near-death experience during a brain operation performed by Robert F. Spetzler at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona

Patient 3:

A 4 -year -old male, child was brought in hypotensive shock to emergency secondary to gastroenteritis and dehydration.Over a period of around one week his sensorium improved.After extubation he started describing his experience of being in silvery white clouds with 'time dilatation' or expansion i.e. he felt he was there for months although his altered sensorium was for about a week.Subsequently he forgot most of the experience.The response of family members was initially neutral and advised the child not to dwell upon it.

Discussion:

In 1980, 5 stages of NDE had been proposed : peace and contentment, detachment from physical body, entering a transitional region of darkness, seeing a brilliant light and entering through the light into another realm of existence. Clinical death is preceded by insufficient blood supply to the brain because of inadequate blood circulation, breathing, or both. OBE in which a person experiences the world from outside the physical body may include moving through a tunnel, communication with light, observation of celestial landscape, meeting with deceased persons, life review and presence of border. If resuscitation is not started within minutes, irreparable damage occurs to the patient's brain and the patient will die.

NDE survivors have reported viewing resuscitation efforts from outside, meeting a 'being of light' who helped them evaluate their lives and finally deciding to return to life rather than go into the bliss of death. They have also reported seeing visions of Christ and Yama (the God of death in Hindu Pantheon) NDE has been reported by 10-20% of cardiac arrest survivors.

Survivors of NDE have reportedly heard conversations and observed actions of people around them during the time of their comatose state. Similar experiences though fragmentary can be induced through electrical stimulation of temporal lobe during epilepsy surgery, hypercarbia, cerebral hypoxia as in fighter pilots or as in hyperventilation followed by Valsalva manoeuvre.

Theories of NDE include spiritual theories which presume that consciousness has an independent existence with a belief in after life. Blackmore described that sometimes mind can acquire a mental model of reality assumed upon imagery and memory instead of sensory impressions. A mental state that may be intrinsically quite different from a veridical perception might come to be mistaken for so, and hence gets the status of a hallucination. However, 'mathematical models' of 'parallel universe' in quantum physics mimic 'experiences' of these patients.

Researchers in India have reported near-death experiences in 16 cases in north, and 13 in south with some features appearing culture bound. Many patients appear to be permanently changed by an NDE which cannot be ignored. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the immense amount of similar literature in Hindu scriptures, like Mahabharat or the Upanishads.

Conclusion:

Larger research may make it easier to communicate about personal recollections during this important period. The explanation could range from psychological to neurophysiological mechanisms, with the cultural background or ethos and age groups such as children taken into account. Whether they are just hallucinations or proof of an afterlife will be debated until more information becomes available.