Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research
๐ Original study โ๐ Appears in:
Plain English Summary
What do people actually experience when they come close to death -- and does it depend on their culture? This huge review analyzed 54 studies covering 465 people from diverse backgrounds worldwide. Out-of-body experiences (feeling like you've floated outside your body) and extraordinarily heightened senses dominated the reports. The really fascinating finding? A core set of experiences -- floating outside the body, tunnel passage, vivid senses, life review -- turned up across every culture studied. Background shaped how people interpreted these experiences, but not what they went through. That pushes back hard against the idea that near-death experiences are simply built from cultural expectations.
Actual Paper Abstract
Background and objective: Some individuals report a near-death experience (NDE) after a life-threatening crisis, which refers to a range of subjective experiences related to impending death. This experience is a phenomenon with transcendental elements, which leads to deep permanent changes in both the individual and the social lives of the NDEr's. Therefore, this study aims to review the near-death experiences of individuals with di๏ฌerent religious and cultural views. Methodology: This is a systematic analysis study. All the case report, case series and qualitative research studies which presented patients' NDE experiences were included in the study, without language restrictions, and in the period of 1980โ2022. The stages of screening, selection, data extraction, and quality assessment have been gone through by two of the researchers. Data analysis and synthesis has been done qualitatively. JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. Findings: After the initial search, 2,407 studies were included, 54 of which underwent ๏ฌnal examination. The total number of the NDEr's in the studies was 465 men, women, and children. Among these studies, 27 were case reports, 20 were case series, and 7 were qualitative studies. Near-death experiences have been categorized into 4 main categories and 19 subcategories. The main categories include emotional experiences (2 subcategories), cognitive experiences (4 subcategories), spiritual and religious experiences (4 subcategories), and supernatural experiences [9 subcategories in two categories (out of body experiences, and supernatural and metaphysical perceptions)]. Conclusion: The most frequent near-death experiences were supernatural experiences, especially the experience of leaving the body. The basis and the content of the patterns mentioned by the NDEr's are similar, and the di๏ฌerences are in the explanation and the interpretation of the experience. There is a common core among them such as out-of-body experiences, passing through a tunnel, heightened senses, etc. Therefore, correct knowledge of near-death experiences leads to providing helpful answers to patients. KEYWORDS near-death experience (NDE), out-of-body experience (OBE), death, systematic review, psychological experiences
Research Notes
Most comprehensive cross-cultural NDE phenomenological taxonomy in the library. Note: catalog ID is misattributed to 'Kondziella'; actual first author is Hashemi. Speaks to controversy #7 by establishing universal NDE core features regardless of religion or culture, which challenges purely cultural-construction explanations.
Systematic analysis of 54 studies (27 case reports, 20 case series, 7 qualitative studies) spanning 1980-2022, involving 465 NDErs across multiple cultures and religions. Screened 2,407 initial records from PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Google Scholar using PRISMA-P guidelines and JBI quality appraisal. NDEs were categorized into 4 main categories with 19 subcategories: emotional, cognitive, spiritual/religious, and supernatural experiences. Supernatural experiencesโespecially out-of-body experiences (35/54 studies) and heightened senses (39/54 studies)โwere the most frequently reported. A universal phenomenological core (OBEs, tunnel passage, heightened senses, life review) was found across all cultures, with cultural variation confined to interpretation rather than experiential structure.
Links
Related Papers
Cites
- Consistency of Near-Death Experience Accounts over Two Decades: Are Reports Embellished over Time? โ Greyson, Bruce (2007)
- The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, Reliability, and Validity โ Greyson, Bruce (1983)
- Incidence and Correlates of Near-Death Experiences in a Cardiac Care Unit โ Greyson, Bruce (2003)
- Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: "Peak in Darien" Experiences โ Greyson, Bruce (2010)
- Near-Death Experiences in Non-Life-Threatening Events and Coma of Different Etiologies โ Charland-Verville, V (2014)
- Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories โ Thonnard, Marie (2013)
- Intensity and Memory Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences โ Martial, Charlotte (2017)
- Near-Death Experiences Between Science and Prejudice โ Facco, Enrico (2012)
Companion
- Non-local Consciousness: A Concept Based on Scientific Research on Near-Death Experiences During Cardiac Arrest โ van Lommel, Pim (2013)
- AWARE--AWAreness during REsuscitation--A prospective study โ Parnia, Sam (2014)
- Temporality of Features in Near-Death Experience Narratives โ Martial, Charlotte (2017)
- The Central Clinical Relevance of Near-Death Experiences in Acute Care Contexts โ Michael, Pascal (2025)
- Terminal lucidity: A review and a case collection โ Nahm, Michael (2012)
More in Nde
Neuro-Functional Modeling of Near-Death Experiences in Contexts of Altered States of Consciousness
AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A Multi-Center Study of Consciousness and Awareness in Cardiac Arrest
Which Near-Death Experience Features Are Associated with Reduced Fear of Death?
Advancing the Evidence for Survival of Consciousness
The Mystical Experience and Its Neural Correlates
๐ Cite this paper
Hashemi, Amirhossein, Oroojan, Ali Akbar, Rassouli, Maryam, Ashrafizadeh, Hadis (2023). Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048929
@article{kondziella_2023_nde_systematic_analysis,
title = {Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research},
author = {Hashemi, Amirhossein and Oroojan, Ali Akbar and Rassouli, Maryam and Ashrafizadeh, Hadis},
year = {2023},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048929},
}