A systematic analysis of distressing near-death experience accounts
📄 Original study ↗📌 Appears in:
Plain English Summary
Most people who report near-death experiences describe peaceful tunnels of light and warm feelings — but not everyone. This study from Belgium's Coma Science Group took a hard look at the darker side: distressing NDEs. Out of 123 people who'd had NDEs, about 14% described frightening ones — a higher rate than previously thought. Researchers sorted these into three types first proposed back in 1992: "inverse" experiences (peaceful features that feel terrifying), "hellish" ones (exactly what it sounds like), and "void" experiences (an overwhelming emptiness). Impressively, independent coders agreed almost perfectly on how to classify them. Suicide survivors were dramatically overrepresented among those with distressing NDEs (24% versus just 1%). Despite being emotionally darker, these scary experiences were remembered just as vividly as the blissful kind. The findings are a real puzzle — they challenge both simple brain-based explanations and tidy spiritual ones, pushing researchers toward more nuanced theories of what's happening during these extraordinary moments.
Research Notes
One of very few systematic empirical analyses of distressing NDEs with rigorous inter-rater coding of Greyson and Bush's 1992 taxonomy. Important for the NDE/survival debate: distressing NDEs challenge simple neurological and spiritual explanations alike, demanding more nuanced models. Links to the Coma Science Group's broader program on NDE phenomenology.
Investigated the prevalence, classification, and phenomenology of distressing near-death experiences in 123 NDErs recruited through the Coma Science Group (Liège). Using the Greyson NDE Scale and Memory Characteristics Questionnaire, 17 experiences (14%) were classified as distressing — higher than the 1–10% reported previously. Multiple coders categorized these into 8 inverse, 8 hellish, and 1 void accounts, confirming Greyson and Bush's (1992) taxonomy with high inter-rater reliability (kappa = 0.855–1.0). Suicide survivors were overrepresented among distressing NDErs (24% vs. 1%, p < .001). Bayesian analyses showed decisive evidence for lower affective scores (BF₁₀ = 42.3) but no differences on cognitive, paranormal, or transcendental components. Memories were equally vivid and detailed as classical NDEs.
Links
Related Papers
Cites
- The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, Reliability, and Validity — Greyson, Bruce (1983)
- Consistency of Near-Death Experience Accounts over Two Decades: Are Reports Embellished over Time? — Greyson, Bruce (2007)
- AWARE--AWAreness during REsuscitation--A prospective study — Parnia, Sam (2014)
- Near-Death Experiences in Non-Life-Threatening Events and Coma of Different Etiologies — Charland-Verville, V (2014)
- Intensity and Memory Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences — Martial, Charlotte (2017)
- Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories — Thonnard, Marie (2013)
- Characteristics of Memories for Near-Death Experiences — Moore, L.E (2017)
- "Reality" of near-death-experience memories: evidence from a psychodynamic and electrophysiological integrated study — Palmieri, Arianna (2014)
- Epistemological Implications of Near-Death Experiences and Other Non-Ordinary Mental Expressions: Moving Beyond the Concept of Altered State of Consciousness — Facco, Enrico (2015)
- Near-Death Experiences Between Science and Prejudice — Facco, Enrico (2012)
Same Research Program
- Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences — Cassol, Helena (2018)
- Near-Death Experiences in Non-Life-Threatening Events and Coma of Different Etiologies — Charland-Verville, V (2014)
- Intensity and Memory Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences — Martial, Charlotte (2017)
- The Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale: Development and psychometric validation — Martial, Charlotte (2020)
Companion
- Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Following Near-Death Experiences — Greyson, Bruce (2001)
- Which Near-Death Experience Features Are Associated with Reduced Fear of Death? — Pehlivanova, Marieta (2022)
- Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision — Ring, Kenneth (1997)
Also by these authors
More in Nde
The Central Clinical Relevance of Near-Death Experiences in Acute Care Contexts
Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research
Neuro-Functional Modeling of Near-Death Experiences in Contexts of Altered States of Consciousness
AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A Multi-Center Study of Consciousness and Awareness in Cardiac Arrest
Advancing the Evidence for Survival of Consciousness
📋 Cite this paper
Cassol, Helena, Martial, Charlotte, Annen, Jitka, Martens, Géraldine, Charland-Verville, Vanessa, Majerus, Steve, Laureys, Steven (2019). A systematic analysis of distressing near-death experience accounts. Memory. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2019.1626438
@article{cassol_2019_distressing_nde,
title = {A systematic analysis of distressing near-death experience accounts},
author = {Cassol, Helena and Martial, Charlotte and Annen, Jitka and Martens, Géraldine and Charland-Verville, Vanessa and Majerus, Steve and Laureys, Steven},
year = {2019},
journal = {Memory},
doi = {10.1080/09658211.2019.1626438},
}