The Bereaved Detachment Experience: An NDE-like Phenomenon.
Omega – April 28, 2025
Source: PubMed
Summary
A significant 86% of individuals experiencing bereavement report after-death communications (ADCs), with some describing a unique bereavement detachment experience (BDE) where they feel out of their bodies during encounters with deceased loved ones. These experiences share similarities with near-death experiences, including feelings of love and traversing through tunnels or bright lights. Analyzing seven case examples revealed common themes and highlighted the BDE's potential psychological benefits, offering valuable insights for caregivers supporting those in grief.
Abstract
When people experience the death of loved ones, some of them report after-death communications (ADCs) in which they have the impression of again encountering those loved ones by means of different types of visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, and/or sentient phenomena. There is one particular type of ADC that can be referred to as a bereavement detachment experience (BDE) because the experient has the impression of being out of and/or away from their physical body during that encounter. Despite the general absence of an imminent threat or a near-death condition associated with a BDE, there are a number of similar features that are also found in reports of the NDE, such as encountering and communicating with deceased loved ones, venturing through a dark place or a tunnel, seeing or entering into a bright light, entering into transcendental otherworldly environments, and feelings of love or peace. This is an exploratory study of the BDE in which seven case examples are examined for a possible thematic pattern and then analyzed for their similarities and differences with the NDE. The aftereffects of the BDE are also explored as a beneficial psychological outcome for the experient. The findings of this study have therapeutic implications with important insights for those providing care to the bereaved.