Have you ever wondered what happens in that moment when life slips away? What do people see or feel when they cross the threshold of death, and how do they describe the journey back to the living? A recent study sheds new light on this age-old question.
What really happens when someone’s heart stops beating? Some report this:
“I felt myself being lifted, looking down at my body on the hospital stretcher. I was puzzled: What are these people doing?”
Others describe it differently: “My deceased grandmother told me, ‘You have to go back to your body, or you can stay here and watch what happens from the outside.’”
Or even this: “I was no longer in my body. I was weightless, without a physical form, floating just below the ceiling of the emergency room.”
These vivid experiences come from a study published in the journal Resuscitation, which investigated near-death experiences (NDEs) among survivors of cardiac arrest. This groundbreaking research is one of the first to explore the consciousness of patients brought back from the brink of death.
Most Near-Death Experiences Are Positive
For most participants in the study, the near-death experience was a positive one, marked by a profound sense of peace. They did not feel pain or fear. One participant shared, “All my worries, thoughts, fears, and opinions were gone.” Another described, “I remember a being of light standing near me, towering above me like a magnificent tower, radiating warmth and love.”
The study initially involved 567 individuals who underwent resuscitation, but only 53 survived, and 28 of them were able to provide a detailed account of their experiences. To supplement this data, researchers also included narratives from 126 other individuals who had previously survived cardiac arrest.
A unique aspect of this study was the monitoring of brain activity and oxygen levels during resuscitation, which provided biological data on possible consciousness. It revealed that 39% of those resuscitated reported being aware of their surroundings without specific memories, while 20% had vivid recollections of their experiences.
Fear and Horror at the Threshold
Not all accounts were peaceful. Two participants described terrifying experiences. One reported, “Everything around me was demons and monsters. It felt like they were trying to tear my limbs apart.” Another interpreted the removal of an intravenous tube as a signal that they were returning to hell.
Both individuals seemed to have some awareness of their real surroundings, but their minds embellished these events with imaginative and horrifying details. Most participants, however, described feelings of calm and a need to make a decisive choice. “The subjects felt their consciousness continue, and they experienced being on a journey to a place that felt like home—somewhere they belonged. Then they realized they had to return,” explained study leader Sam Parnia.
Near-Death Experiences and Lucid Dreams
Interestingly, the study found a striking resemblance between near-death experiences and lucid dreaming. In a lucid dream, the sleeper is aware they are dreaming and can control certain aspects of the dream. According to Sam Parnia, this lucid-dream-like state could explain why some people who come back from the brink of death report sudden mental clarity or the ability to review all their memories from birth to death.
Experiences Are Shaped by Culture and Personal History
Cultural context and personal experiences also play a significant role in shaping near-death experiences. In the second phase of the study, where more time had passed since the participants’ cardiac arrests, there were more elaborate accounts compared to the freshly resuscitated group.
“This second group consisted of those who experienced something profound and reached out to researchers because of their dramatic experiences,” explains psychologist Jukka Häkkinen. “There is also a higher likelihood that their experiences have been shaped by narratives typical in our culture.”
The Lazarus Phenomenon: Back From the Dead
Medicine recognizes a phenomenon known as the Lazarus effect, where individuals spontaneously return to life after resuscitation efforts have ceased. Jukka Häkkinen shares a true story:
“An eleven-month-old girl lay motionless, her heart stopped. The intensive care team had tried everything: chest compressions, four shocks to the chest, seven doses of adrenaline, and two bags of fluid. Two minutes after she had no detectable pulse, she was pronounced dead.
The family wanted a moment with the child. Fifteen minutes later, the mother requested the breathing tube be removed so she could hold her baby. As soon as the tube was removed, the girl began breathing on her own. The doctor had never seen anything like it.”
Why Do Some See Their Lives Flash Before Their Eyes?
Two key experiences emerged from the study: life flashing before one's eyes and a profound moral evaluation of one’s life. One participant described it as follows: “I saw the events of my life in detail and felt satisfaction, shame, and a desire for redemption.”
Seeing life as a film reel may result from intense activation of memory areas in the brain. “A similar film strip effect can occur with drugs like cannabis and LSD or in situations where one thinks they are going to die,” Häkkinen explains.
Is There Life Beyond Death?
Near-death experiences continue to captivate researchers and the public alike. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness, life, and death. Whether perceived as a passage to another realm or a complex psychological phenomenon, these experiences remain a profound mystery. As new research sheds light on what happens at the moment of death, we continue to seek answers to the eternal question: What lies beyond?
Near-death experiences offer a fascinating glimpse into what might be one of the last frontiers of human experience. Whether comforting, terrifying, or simply perplexing, they push us to ask deeper questions about life, death, and everything in between.