Are Persons Reporting “Near-Death Experiences” Really near Death? A Study of Medical Records

Abstract

In the cases of 107 patients who reported unusual experiences during an illness or injury, such as seeing their own body from a different position in space, medical records were obtained for forty patients. These were examined and rated according to the evidence they provided of grave, life-threatening illness or injury. Eighteen patients (45%) were judged to have had serious, life-threatening illnesses or injuries, but twenty-two (55%) were rated as having had no life-threatening condition. Nevertheless, thirty-three (82.5%) of the patients believed that they had been “dead” or near death. Deficiencies in the medical records may account for a few of the discrepancies between patients' reports and medical records. However, it seems likely that an important precipitator of the so-called near-death experience is the belief that one is dying—whether or not one is in fact close to death.