Going into the light

[haloedorchid]

Tue, Mar 22, 2011

A new study of deathbed experiences has found a surprising number of similarities, writes FIONOLA MEREDITH


GIVEN THAT many of us shy away from talking about death and dying, it is not surprising that we know so little about what happens in the last hours of a person’s life. But an unusual new study, funded by the Irish Hospice Foundation, aims to break through the taboo of the deathbed.


The study â€" Capturing the invisible: exploring Deathbed Experiences in Irish Palliative Care, by researchers Una MacConville and Regina McQuillan â€" examines the strange visions that often accompany the dying process, asking members of the Irish Association of Palliative Care to report their experiences. The results are startling.


In one frequently reported scenario, the dying person spoke of seeing deceased relatives or religious figures, or of experiencing a radiant white light in the room. Perhaps because they defy explanation, these deathbed phenomena are rarely discussed by healthcare professionals, despite being a familiar occurrence.


Yet rather than avoiding the topic, MacConville says education about such experiences could raise awareness of the phenomena and help palliative care professionals to normalise them for patients and families as a common and even comforting part of dying.


After all, as MacConville points out, there is nothing new in these visions: accounts of deathbed experiences (DBE) are common throughout history and across cultures. William Shakespeare makes reference to them, and the earliest medical encyclopaedias recognise such phenomena as indications that death is close. In most cases, they have a positive effect, bringing peace, comfort, calmness and joy to the patient.


One nurse who responded to the study said, “I have often heard patients refer to seeing someone in their room or at the end of their bed, often relatives, and also it is not a distressing event for them. Family are usually shocked by hearing it and want to know the significance of it.”


Another odd but quite frequently reported occurrence â€" 31 per cent of respondents mentioned it in this study â€" is when a dying person unexpectedly emerges from a coma, suddenly becoming sufficiently alert to communicate with family and friends.


A respondent reported that, “In one incident the patient, who had been in a coma, opened his eyes and smiled at his three daughters and wife. Profound calmness and peace filled the room. It was special to be part of that experience. In another incident the patient said he saw a light, a bright light; he died shortly afterwards.”


Less dramatically, the dying person may also experience vivid dreams that have particular significance for them, sometimes helping them resolve unfinished business in their lives. Others report a sudden and unexplained smell of roses, or claim to see angels appearing in their room.


However you explain them, most of these experiences sound benign, even reassuring. But MacConville says that deathbed phenomena sometimes can be frightening encounters for the dying person and their relatives: “Family members may become distressed because they realise that death is imminent, and the dying person may be disturbed by the visions because they don’t understand them.”


One respondent told MacConville and McQuillan that relatives often become “upset and emotional if patient talks to them as they realise time is very short”.


Neither is a deathbed experience any kind of guarantor of a peaceful death. In the study, only 24 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that patients experiencing DBE have a peaceful death as a result. Some 59 per cent were neutral and 17 per cent disagreed.


MacConville says deathbed experiences are rarely talked about precisely because it’s not clear what these visions are. One common sense explanation may be that the visions are drug- or fever-induced hallucinations. But 68 per cent of respondents agreed, or strongly agreed, that DBE have different qualities from such hallucinations.


MacConville says there appears to be a difference in the quality of the visions: they appear with greater clarity, and they are experienced as meaningful, with significant associations, rather than random, as they would be in drug-induced cases.


An earlier study also indicated that patients experiencing deathbed phenomena are usually calm and composed. In contrast, drug- or fever-induced hallucinations can be disturbing and frightening, with other symptoms of drug-induced toxicity and high temperature present as well.


Reflecting on the deathbed phenomena, one anonymous palliative care nurse admitted that such visions “do not often have a rational explanation”. Nonetheless, “I don’t believe people’s experiences can be discounted or disputed. It is individual, intense and real for many patients and families.”


Being able to put a name to these experiences, and to talk about them openly, is one important step towards overcoming the fear and confusion that surrounds the last hours before death.


Una MacConville is interested in hearing from healthcare professionals and members of the public about such experiences as this research is continuing. E-mail her at U.macconville@bath.ac.uk or call 086-8175530.


© 2011 The Irish Times


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0322/1224292769193_pf.html

[The General]

Another odd but quite frequently reported occurrence â€" 31 per cent of respondents mentioned it in this study â€" is when a dying person unexpectedly emerges from a coma, suddenly becoming sufficiently alert to communicate with family and friends.

Wow.  Just experienced that last year with a close friend dying.
thanks for posting this.


-Eric

[haloedorchid]

I hadn't heard of that before. It must've been quite an experience.

I used to work in assisted living, and death was a routine occurrence. It was so common for the residents who were on hospice, and who had a long dying process, to see their deceased relatives at the foot of their bed, or gathered in their room. If they were fearful of death before, seeing their dead family members really calmed them.

[b_dubb]

I have been wondering about life after death this year. I'm skeptical but I've had a couple of experiences that I have a hard time explaining within a super-conventional perspective. In the end, I think you're better off if you're a believer.

[McPhallus]

Interesting.  My maternal grandmother (who happened to be of Irish descent) died of Alzheimer's a couple of years ago and claimed that long-dead relatives were calling to her just a few days before she died.

[Jasmine]

Interesting.  My maternal grandmother (who happened to be of Irish descent) died of Alzheimer's a couple of years ago and claimed that long-dead relatives were calling to her just a few days before she died.

Wow. How did I miss THIS fantastic thread? This is right up my alley. McPhallus, I don't doubt for one second that your beloved Grandmother was visited by family members who crossed over to the realm of spirit prior to her passing. Believe it. These deathbed visitations are the rule, not the exception. Her "deceased" relatives - your family members - were very aware that her time to cross over was approaching, and their presence at her side was a loving sign that she would not be alone when she left her physical body. They would be on hand to ensure her transition to the other side was not a lonely one, that love and warmth and a hearty welcome would wrap around your Grandmother's soul.

There is a plethora of physicians, nurses, and other hospital and hospice workers who have long known that their terminally ill patients do indeed experience something VERY profound prior to their crossing over. It's only recently where these medical professionals feel secure and comfortable in regards to relating their witnessing of their patients' extraordinary experiences. Not one soul crosses over alone. Not one.

If I may, I recommend you source books about deathbed visitations and near death experiences by two medical professionals, Dr. Raymond Moody, and Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Both were die hard skeptics when it came to the survival of the soul and the spirit realm; both eventually became strong advocates for the soul surviving the physical death of the human body. Read their books, you'll be amazed.

I have experienced numerous communications from my paternal Grandmother and maternal Grandfather over the ensuing years since they both crossed over. There is simply no death of the soul. Life is eternal, and trust me, I too was once a skeptic, far too pragmatic and close-minded in regards to this utterly fascinating, and heartwarming subject matter. Many departed souls attempt on numerous occasions to communicate with those still on the earth; sadly, far too many on earth don't recognize the messages trying to come through to them.

Your Grandmother is still very much alive, and is in the company of those in her primary soul group. I'd be very surprised if she hasn't attempted communication with you and other family members.

Remember, energy, in and of itself, cannot be destroyed, cannot be terminated. It can only be transformed.

[Jasmine]

Also, the book mentioned at the top of this thread is a MUST READ, too. It's wonderfully researched, and it mirrors the findings of Dr. Moody and Dr. Kubler-Ross.

Life is eternal. The realm of spirit is a far, far different existence than man made organized religion purports it to be.

[Jasmine]

I have been wondering about life after death this year. I'm skeptical but I've had a couple of experiences that I have a hard time explaining within a super-conventional perspective. In the end, I think you're better off if you're a believer.

Good for you, b_dubb. Go with your instincts and gut. Many, many people have these experiences; far too many disregard them as imagination. This is NOT the case.

[ziznak]

They say that at the time of death there are many psychotropic chemicals released into the human body... I'm not saying that nobody had any spiritual shit happen I'm just saying that maybe these deathbed visions are actually biological anomaly's... I have some fucked up dreams people and If I had one of my dreams right before death and then woke up in some hospital bed I'm sure I'd be talking about Korean Jesus and the indestructible soul as well.

oh yeah if I had a deathbed vision before death then I would be dead and then I couldnt really analyze my deathbed vision... but lets just say I died and lived to see it and then got to write about it... I'd be saying this shit.

[Jasmine]

They say that at the time of death there are many psychotropic chemicals released into the human body... I'm not saying that nobody had any spiritual shit happen I'm just saying that maybe these deathbed visions are actually biological anomaly's... I have some fucked up dreams people and If I had one of my dreams right before death and then woke up in some hospital bed I'm sure I'd be talking about Korean Jesus and the indestructible soul as well.

oh yeah if I had a deathbed vision before death then I would be dead and then I couldnt really analyze my deathbed vision... but lets just say I died and lived to see it and then got to write about it... I'd be saying this shit.

The very fact that tens of thousands of both near death experiences and deathbed visitation cases are virtually identical in terms of components and sequence of events defies the biological chemical theory. Moreover, these accounts transcend earth conditioned organized religious beliefs, socio-economic, and cultural variances. Many deathbed visitation experiences are recounted to family members by those experiencing them, and it MUST be emphasized that the experiences are virtually identical regardless of any or all administered drugs the patient has been prescribed.

In the cases of near death experience accounts by those who either elected to return to their physical bodies, or who were "instructed" by their spirit guides to return (not their time to cross over) their knowledge of reincarnation is awakened and ingested as fact.

Reincarnation is another fascinating reality, and ties in with the above subject matter.

[analog kid]

In the end, I think you're better off if you're a believer.

I'll take my chances with the Buddhist monks and unbaptized babies.

[ziznak]

Didn't think you'd be a "believer" for some reason but hey... I'll obviously chalk it up to the recent procreatorial events.... but seriously... you think we exist outside of the shell?

[coaster]

I think the chemical that is released is DMT. I've had an NDE, and I can vouch for the whole "someone telling you its not your time" experience. I'm not sure if it was spiritual or it was chemical, but it definitely felt real. A lot of people who have had NDE's have seen and experienced things that are unexplainable. One example would be where someone is lying on an operating table and they  see the setting from above(doctors, instruments, etc etc) and are able to explain in detail what they saw. I'm not sure of any chemical that would make that happen. But who knows..

[ItsOver]

I remember hearing or reading somewhere about an experiment that was being conducted in a surgical operating room where a written message was placed in the room that could possibly seen by somebody supposedly having an OBE/NDE.  Otherwise, the individual having surgery would not be aware of the message since you'd supposedly have to be "hovering" outside of your body to see it.  I may have even heard about it on one of Art's old shows.

I remember at the time, nobody who had claimed to have had an OBE or NDE reported noting the message, even though they may have claimed to have had a perspective that should have permitted such an observation.  Anybody remember that particular study? 

[ziznak]

Not ruling it out here I'm just not gonna say something happens until it happens to me.  What was that story about the little kid who was clinically dead yet described people, events, and even conversations in the hospital around his operating table?  We hear this stories all the time but it takes something else for the real skeptical to believe.   The most crazy evidence for past lives that I've seen has been the children that were born with strange ass memories of being shot in the dome and are born again with bullet sized birth marks in the rememberd area... that shit freaks me out and there's no way in hell I can really say how that shit goes down.

[ItsOver]

Yep, Ziz, there are a number of instances such as the little kid describing activities around the operating table.  Some of them are somewhat puzzling but could be somewhat subjective.  The study I'm thinking about was an attempt to run a more scientific approach with something fairly specific to report.  As of the time I heard about it, the results to date were pretty much nil for having something more concrete.

[ziznak]

nice so you know about the work of whats his fuck who measured the near dead and dead bodies to see if we lose weight from our souls departing? what was his name?

[stevesh]

I remember hearing or reading somewhere about an experiment that was being conducted in a surgical operating room where a written message was placed in the room that could possibly seen by somebody supposedly having an OBE/NDE.  Otherwise, the individual having surgery would not be aware of the message since you'd supposedly have to be "hovering" outside of your body to see it.  I may have even heard about it on one of Art's old shows.

I remember at the time, nobody who had claimed to have had an OBE or NDE reported noting the message, even though they may have claimed to have had a perspective that should have permitted such an observation.  Anybody remember that particular study?

That was one of Noory's guests, and not that long ago (can't remember his name, but he is a medical doctor and has some sort of organization investigating NDEs). When asked about the experiment on a subsequent interview, he said the results were, so far, inconclusive.

Personally, I think NDEs are caused by a chemical like DMT, but then, I don't believe in an afterlife.

[ItsOver]

nice so you know about the work of whats his fuck who measured the near dead and dead bodies to see if we lose weight from our souls departing? what was his name?

You bet, Ziz.  I remember Art being fascinated with the old McDougall experiment.

http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp

[ItsOver]

That was one of Noory's guests, and not that long ago (can't remember his name, but he is a medical doctor and has some sort of organization investigating NDEs). When asked about the experiment on a subsequent interview, he said the results were, so far, inconclusive.

Personally, I think NDEs are caused by a chemical like DMT, but then, I don't believe in an afterlife.

Found him.  Dr. Sam Parnia.

http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/why_dr._parnias_nde_test_will_likely_fail

He was last on C2C on January of 2011.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2011/01/03

I think I may have heard him when Art was hosting the March 4th, 2006 show.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2006/03/04

[MV/Liberace!]

Interesting.  My maternal grandmother (who happened to be of Irish descent) died of Alzheimer's a couple of years ago and claimed that long-dead relatives were calling to her just a few days before she died.

2 or 3 months before my grandmother unexpectedly died of a brain hemorrhage, she had an unrelated surgery from which she fully recovered, although she came close to death immediately after this surgery.  i sat with her for hours and hours as she recovered, and there were numerous times when she laid there holding a conversation with someone.  after she recovered, she told me her parents had been in the room talking with her, and she was totally surprised when i told her i witnessed her having these conversations (she was pretty much out of her mind at the time this was happening).  she said it was as real as anything she's ever experienced.

[Jasmine]

2 or 3 months before my grandmother unexpectedly died of a brain hemorrhage, she had an unrelated surgery from which she fully recovered, although she came close to death immediately after this surgery.  i sat with her for hours and hours as she recovered, and there were numerous times when she laid there holding a conversation with someone.  after she recovered, she told me her parents had been in the room talking with her, and she was totally surprised when i told her i witnessed her having these conversations (she was pretty much out of her mind at the time this was happening).  she said it was as real as anything she's ever experienced.

I'm so proud of you boys for being at least open-minded about this fascinating subject. I'm baking for Christmas, and can't share now. Will later.

[Centurion40]

Whether it's DMT or pre-decease relatives, I want comfort when I'm checking-out!!

My dad was heavily sedated when he died, still, at the moment that he passed, his eyes opened and body stretched.  Awful memory.

Some weird shit went on in the days and months after he died, which I've detailed in the supernatural encounters thread.  Could have been him trying succeeding in contacting me, or could have been pure, bizarre coincidence.

I wasn't in the room when mom passed, last saw her about 6-7 hours before she went.  She didn't say anything as she had CBGD and had lost the ability to speak.

Mom's been gone almost 3 months now and there's been no contact from her/no bizarre coincidences.  That said, my mom's last years were horrible and she knew that she was on the way out.  My dad was hospitalized and gone within 3 weeks.

[Juan]

The last couple of weeks of my father's life he talked frequently with his dead relatives.  The last couple of days, he frequently called out, "Louis, take me home."  Louis was his cousin, some 5 or six years older, who had taken care of my father when he was a child.  Louis had died at least 15-years before.

[MV/Liberace!]

Mom's been gone almost 3 months now and there's been no contact from her/no bizarre coincidences.

my grandmother and i were uniquely close.  she and i had a long standing agreement that she'd try and contact me after dying, but so far, nothing.

[Jasmine]

In regards to disincarnate spirits communicating with loved ones still on Earth, these communications, or signals from them that they are still very much alive, can occur at any time. Communications can transpire hours, days, months, years, and even decades after the person has crossed over. Remember, "over there", there is no presence of linear time as we know it and measure it here. Many people have reported being contacted by a "deceased" loved one twenty or thirty years after the the "death" of that individual.

It's also important to note that many, many times we incarnate beings fail to heed the signals and messages from those now in spirit form. Very often, thoughts, ideas, or emotions suddenly enter our minds, and we think they are merely ones that we ourselves created. Often, these are thoughts and ideas implanted in our minds by those "over there" to help us, guide us, and comfort us. 

The last couple of weeks of my father's life he talked frequently with his dead relatives.  The last couple of days, he frequently called out, "Louis, take me home."  Louis was his cousin, some 5 or six years older, who had taken care of my father when he was a child.  Louis had died at least 15-years before.

My beloved maternal grandmother crossed over ten years ago, and while in the hospital, she told us her "deceased" parents and her stillborn first daughter were present to comfort her and help her make the transition. She sobbed when she said her stillborn daughter came to speak with her, for up to that point, my grandmother had no belief in the afterlife. She mentioned the "deceased" infant daughter told her "Helene" was there, this being the name my grandmother had chosen for her daughter had she been born alive. It blew my mother away, for up to that point, she and her brother had NO idea about their first sister at all...my grandmother could never bring herself to mention the "death" of her first child.
How comforting for my family to realize that this first "deceased" daughter was waiting for her mother "over there".

It angers me that charlatans such as Bruce Goldberg (who initially was a very decent past life regressive therapist, before fame and money tarnished his reputation) and Sylvia Browne, to name but two of many, have caused so many people to view life after death and reincarnation in such a mistrustful and negative light.

My grandmother and I were also very close. She communicated with me in such a beautiful, powerful, and totally unexpected manner years ago. I'll recount this communication later when I have time to do so.

Oh, and there are times when those who communicate with us are ones we would never expect to...Great Grandparents whom we've never met being one example.

So hang in there, and pay close attention to the signals they send you!

[Jasmine]

my grandmother and i were uniquely close.  she and i had a long standing agreement that she'd try and contact me after dying, but so far, nothing.

Give her time. If she hasn't already attempted contact, she could very well just be orientating herself over there, settling in and embracing her surroundings, plus enjoying reunions with those close to her who crossed over before her. Three months here can be three seconds over there...no linear time existing where she now resides!

Centurion40, I'll bet you that "weird shit" concerning your father wasn't so weird when placed in its correct perspective and context! I'll look for your post and read it...you've piqued my curiosity.

[Centurion40]

The last couple of weeks of my father's life he talked frequently with his dead relatives.  The last couple of days, he frequently called out, "Louis, take me home."  Louis was his cousin, some 5 or six years older, who had taken care of my father when he was a child.  Louis had died at least 15-years before.

Now that I think about it, my mom seemed to be talking to my dad (who died Dec. 21st, 2006) a couple of weeks before she passed.  That said, my mom had CBGD- a type of dementia.

[Centurion40]

Centurion40, I'll bet you that "weird shit" concerning your father wasn't so weird when placed in its correct perspective and context! I'll look for your post and read it...you've piqued my curiosity.

Page 6 of the supernatural experiences thread.

[Sardondi]

Author Michael Prescott has addressed this study specifically in his blog, here, http://michaelprescott.typepad.com/michael_prescotts_blog/2011/03/at-deaths-door.html. He also deals more broadly with NDEs and DBEs elsewhere throughout his high-quality site.