Near-Death Experiences and Antisuicidal Attitudes

People who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) endorse more antisuicidal attitudes than those who came close to death without an NDE. The deeper the NDE, the more antisuicidal statements were endorsed. The attitudes most strongly linked to NDEs involve transpersonal or transcendental beliefs, suggesting that NDEs reduce suicide risk by fostering a sense of purpose in life.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been reported to decrease fear of death and foster a “romanticized” view of death, yet also promote antisuicidal attitudes. This study was an empirical investigation of psychodynamic hypotheses suggested to explain that paradoxical effect, using a thirty-six-item questionnaire constructed for this purpose. One hundred-fifty near-death experiencers (NDErs) and forty-three individuals who had come close to death but not had NDEs (nonNDErs) rated as true or false twelve antisuicidal attitudes that have been hypothesized to result from NDEs. NDErs endorsed significantly more of the antisuicidal statements than nonNDErs, and among NDErs, number of statements endorsed was positively associated with depth of experience. Those antisuicidal attitudes that showed the greatest difference in endorsement rate between NDErs and nonNDErs related to transpersonal or transcendental beliefs. These data support prior naturalistic observations that NDEs foster antisuicidal attitudes by promoting a sense of purpose in life.