International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)
January 1, 2025
Taís Oliveira Silva, Kathryn Levy, Christopher W Kerr
3 citations
Dying patients often report vivid dreams, visions, or sudden lucid episodes even as their clinical and mental condition declines. A review of 20 studies found that end-of-life dreams and visions occur in cognitively intact patients, are vividly recalled, frequently involve deceased loved ones, and provide meaning, comfort, and acceptance, suggesting ongoing psychological and spiritual activity. Terminal lucidity, though rarer, involves a sudden return of clarity and communication in severely cognitively impaired individuals, challenging the idea that consciousness depends solely on brain function. These experiences point to a possible dissociation between mind and brain during dying.
April 9, 2026
Everton de Oliveira Maraldi, Amanda Sales Cafezeiro, Taís Oliveira Silva et al.
preprint
A scoping review and bibliometric analysis of 174 studies found that psychodynamic and transpersonal approaches dominate the clinical literature on non-ordinary experiences (NOEs), such as feelings of cosmic unity or sensing the deceased. Intervention techniques more frequently aimed to induce altered states (e.g., holotropic breathwork, meditation, psychedelic-assisted therapy) than to manage NOEs after they occurred. Bibliometric analysis revealed four research traditions: transpersonal/spiritual, psychiatric/psychopathological, psychedelic/meditative, and ethno-dissociative. The field relies heavily on case studies and qualitative reports, with limited experimental evidence, highlighting methodological and ethical challenges for future research.
Palliative & supportive care
December 26, 2025
Taís Oliveira Silva, Bruno Angeli-Faez, Lorena Cândida Ferreira Paixão et al.
Near death, end-of-life dreams and visions (ELDVs) and delirium often overlap, making them hard to tell apart. This case report describes an elderly Brazilian woman with metastatic cancer who experienced both. ELDVs involved vivid encounters with deceased relatives and biographical themes, but many were distressing and occurred alongside fluctuating attention typical of delirium. The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) identified delirium but could not distinguish ELDVs within delirious states. ELDVs often emerged during lucid windows with preserved recall and insight. Distress alone did not differentiate the two. Supplementing CAM with qualitative criteria—content, vividness, biographical meaning, insight, cultural fit, and recall—may prevent misclassification and support holistic palliative care.