Making Sense of Near-Death Experience Research: Circumstance Specific Alterations of Consciousness

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are reported by many people, but researchers disagree on what an NDE actually is. The term currently describes at least three distinct phenomena: experiences during the process of dying, experiences in life-threatening or fear-of-death situations, and experiences occurring without any life-threatening circumstances. Different researchers hold nested assumptions: some view NDEs as a single entity with one explanation, while others restrict them to life-threatening events and see them as composite experiences. The analysis argues that what is labeled an NDE should be modified to circumstance-specific alterations of consciousness.

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Abstract

Abstract The growing body of research on near‐death experiences ( NDE s) is an indication of the large number of people claiming such experiences. A surprising feature of the research is that conceptually there is no agreement on what an NDE is and consequently a large number of definitions characterize this field of research. In order to address the definitional quagmire, a first step consists of making sense of NDE definitions. An analysis of existing definitions shows that the term is currently used for at least three distinct phenomena: a cluster of experiences encountered in the process of dying, for that cluster of experiences in circumstances of fear‐death and danger, and for that cluster of experiences independently from any life‐threatening circumstances. Secondly, the nested assumptions that characterize identified patterns in NDE research are identified. It is shown that pro‐survivalists see NDE s as a unitary entity with a single explanation, while others restrict the study of NDE s to life‐threatening circumstances and see them as a cluster of composite experiences. Based on this analysis it is argued that the pattern of experiences labeled NDE s can be modified to circumstance specific alterations of consciousness .