All of Dr. Pim van Lommel’s research is based on cases involving patients under the care of physicians treating them when they had a cardiac arrest. He conducted a prospective study by interviewing all cardiac arrest survivors to see if they had memories during their cardiac arrest: 282 of his 344 patients did not have memories, but 62 patients did.[1] These cases provide evidence that persons may experience an enhanced consciousness, when according to accepted medical criteria their brains were unable to support any consciousness at all.
Were there differences between these two groups of survivors that might explain some of these NDEs? Van Lommel reports: “To our big surprise, we identified no significant differences in the duration of the cardiac arrest, no differences in the duration of the period of unconscious-ness, and no differences in whether or not seriously ill patients who remained in a coma for days or weeks after a complicated resuscitation needed intubation for artificial respiration.
“Neither did we find differences among the 30 patients who had a cardiac arrest during electrophysiological stimulation (EPS) in the catheterization laboratory and whose heart rhythms were always reestablished through defibrillation (electric shock) within fifteen to thirty seconds. So we failed to identify any differences between patients with a very long or a very brief cardiac arrest. The degree or severity of the oxygen deficiency in the brain (anoxia) appeared to be irrelevant.”
Also, “The administered medication played no role. Most patients suffering a myocardial infarction receive morphine-style painkillers, while people who are put on a ventilator following a complicated resuscitation are given extremely high doses of sedatives.
“A psychological cause, such as the infrequently reported fear of death, did not affect the occurrence of a NDE, although it did affect the depth of the experience. Whether or not patients had heard or read anything about NDEs in the past made no difference either. Any kind of religious belief, or its absence in nonbelievers and atheists, was irrelevant, and the same was true for the standard of education reached.”[2]
In the van Lommel study, factors that do increase the frequency of an NDE are “an age below 60 and a first myocardial infarction, in which case the patients were also younger than the mean age of 63. If patients required several resuscitations during their hospital stay, they were more likely to report an NDE. Remarkably, all patients who had experienced an NDE in the past reported them significantly more often in our study.”
“A complicated resuscitation can result in a long coma, and patients who have been unconscious on a ventilator for days or weeks are more likely to suffer short-term memory defects caused by permanent brain damage. The longer the coma, the greater the risk of these cognitive problems, which also occur after sever concussion or a stroke and which may wipe hours, days, and sometimes even weeks from a patient’s memory. These patients reported NDEs significantly less often, which suggests that a good memory is a prerequisite for remembering an NDE.”[3]
Van Lommel says his research colleagues were: “particularly surprised to find that medical factors failed to explain the occurrence of an NDE. All the patients in our study had been clinically dead, and only a small percentage reported an enhanced consciousness with lucid thoughts, emotions, memories, and sometimes perceptions from a position outside and above their lifeless body during resuscitation.
“If this enhanced consciousness had a physiological cause, such as oxygen deficiency in the brain (anoxia), all patients in our study should have reported an NDE. They had all been unconscious because of their cardiac arrest, which resulted in a loss of blood pressure and the cessation of breathing and all body and brain stem reflexes.
“The severity of the clinical picture, such as a lengthy coma after a complicated resuscitation, also failed to explain why patients did or did not report an NDE, except in the case of lingering memory defects.
“The psychological explanation is improbable because most patients experienced no fear of death preceding their cardiac arrest; its onset was so sudden that they failed to notice it. In most cases they were left without any memories of their resuscitation.”[4]
Van Lommel’s research included interviews with NDE survivors after two years, and these verified: “a significant decrease in fear of death among people with an NDE and a significant increase in belief in an afterlife. There were further significant differences between people with and without an NDE with respect to a number of social and religious factors such as showing emotions, accepting others, a more loving attitude to life, and more love and compassion for oneself and others. “
Other differences pertained to a greater involvement in family, a greater interest in spirituality and the meaning of life, and greater appreciation of ordinary things, coupled with less interest in money, possessions, and social norms (‘keeping up appearances’).”
Interviews with survivors eight years later revealed “the NDE had become an experience that provided a fresh insight into everything that matters in life: compassion, unconditional love, and acceptance of oneself (including acceptance of one’s negative qualities), others, and nature. Fear of death was usually gone.”[5]
In response to critics who argue that NDEs are vivid dreams, Van Lommel agrees that there are similarities. “Consciousness is so greatly enhanced during a dream that time and distance become irrelevant. Like NDEs, some dreams also feature visions of the future.” In addition, “people can meet deceased persons in lucid dreams, just as in NDEs.”
Yet, van Lommel reminds us, unlike NDEs: “Dreams usually occur during the REM phase of sleep, during which the brain displays a great deal of activity.” Also, “People with an NDE say that during their near-death episode they experienced a vivid reality, which was fundamentally different from anything they ever experienced in dreams.”[6]
A 2013 presentation by van Lommel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyUsPgIuQ0&t=102s
[1] Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life, 144.
[2] Ibid., 146-147.
[3] Ibid., 147-148.
[4] Ibid., 148-149.
[5] Ibid., 150-151.
[6] Ibid., 132-133.
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