Near-Death Experience Thesis

5. Although each person reacts to the knowledge of impending death or to loss in his or her own way, there are similarities in the psychosocial responses to the situation.

Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A

Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death by Irvin D. Yalcom is a raw and unfiltered look at one of the most difficult challenges everyone faces, death. He takes you through the real-life experiences of his patients, past and present, and shares his thoughts about death. The real-life examples have a way of grasping your attention and pulling you in. He assists his patients in recognizing the reality of death, but not fearing it. Yalcom suggests that people have varying degrees of death anxiety. For some, death is not even a thought, while for others it may consume their thoughts. He also suggests that our everyday anxieties may ultimately originate from our fear of death. He includes observations of approaches used by famous philosophers. While reading, you cannot help but to contemplate your own life and envision your death.

This article was written by Tom Lott, and this article talks about his near death experience and how

Prior to understanding and describing religious experiences, it’s important to define the terms and typology of religious experiences. A point of contention for theologians is whether or not mystical or out-of-body experiences are religious in nature. To understand what the role religion plays in these experiences, for this context, you must define and understand what religion is and the major components that make it up. James states that religion “cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name” (35). If you were to ask someone about the essence of an object or a concept, different people would provide various components or parts of it. You would end up of with a list ranging from objective and subjective responses, but it would provide a better understanding of it because, like religion, no one thing or person can be summed up in a sentence or a word.

Following an in-depth personal reflection after my own near death experience in high school, the distinction between the appearance of life and the reality is quite prominent.

Many people claim to have survived through the near-death experience (NDE). While some of those stories might as well be a product of circumstances and vivid imagination, I, indeed, do not exclude a possibility of the human encounter with the divine extraterrestrial life. Perhaps, a person's pre-existing spiritual beliefs dictate how the brain perceives a particular extraordinary event and affect the memories being recalled post factum. People are unable to foresee what the future bestows on them tomorrow, let alone next life. Mortality Paradox described by Cave in the previous chapters is driving humanity to explore life beyond earthly means. Shared stories bring hope to some and validate their faith by confirming that eternal life, in fact,

As the old saying goes, in this world nothing can be said to be sure, except death and taxes. Even everyone knows their life must have an end, but most of them still fear the death. In the short stories, A Drowning by Mark Ferguson and Red Bean Ice by Nancy Lee, authors have demonstrated the reaction and feeling of people to death. In these two stories, the characters are unlike the other person when death comes. They are both calm facing to death, and they are all insisting their hope. However, the reaction of people around them for their death is different.

On Death and Dying By Elisabeth Kubler-Ross For my book review, I read On Death and Dying, by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Dr. Kubler-Ross was the first person in her field to discuss the topic of death. Before 1969, death was considered a taboo. On Death and Dying is one of the most important psychological studies of the late twentieth century. The work grew out of her famous interdisciplinary seminar on death, life, and transition. In this paper, I give a comprehensive book review as well as integrate topics learned in class with Dr. Kubler-Ross' work. Like Piaget's look at developmental stages in children, there are also stages a person experiences on the journey toward death. These five stages are denial/isolation, anger, bargaining,

I feel that when it is your time to go, you are going. That’s really the only belief that I have about death. Explain how level of death anxiety may be impacted by gender, age and mental health. Death anxiety in gender, women tend to have higher death anxiety scores than men on self-report scales. This does not mean that women get excited over everything it’s just that men usually tend not to show any emotional feelings about an emotional situation. Death anxiety in age, death anxiety is higher in adolescents and early adulthood. Then it decreases as we settle in life and by the time we get old anxiety gets higher again, by the time you reach seventy your anxiety will go back down. By this time in life you start looking forward to death. Most of your friends maybe dead already, your parents, siblings, and spouse by this time may already be deceased so in a way you have embraced death at this point. Death anxiety in mental health and illness, death anxiety is higher in people with diagnosed psychiatric conditions. Selective attention is when you have so much going on and you get distracted. You are not trying to avoid anything your mind is just on somewhere else. Selective response is when a person has thoughts about death but they choose who they want to talk to about it. Compartmentalizing is when you realize and understand that he is in a life-threatening situation and choose to respond to some aspects of the illness. Deception is when someone

In most people 's lives, they will experience a moment of knowing death is near.

It was a warm fall day in early October, a day that I recall quite vividly. The smells of the transition from summer to fall were in the air, accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. It was on this beautiful day that my existence was almost terminated. A quick hunting trip could have ended my life.

There are many reasons why individuals are afraid of death: inability to take care of dependents, pain and sadness that loved ones will feel, or fear of the afterlife. But one of the most common reasons is the fear of nothingness and loss of self (Yalom, 1980). Death anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways (Yalom, 1980). One’s feeling of missing exciting events or the desire to control the surrounding world, demonstrate this manifestation. These unhealthy thoughts help individuals ease fear of death by dealing not with the real and terrifying source of anxiety, but indirectly, through more socially acceptable actions. Many people protect themselves from death anxiety by denying it. Yalom (1980) discussed two ways that accomplish this goal: the ultimate rescuer and personal specialness. Both ideas lead people to feel that they will not be affected by misfortune like others might be. The ultimate rescuer is a type of defense mechanism leading people to believe that someone will come into their life and save them from their problems. An example of this would be a person with severe financial problems needing money to take care of health problems believing that someone or something will bring the needed money and the situation will work itself out. Personal specialness involves the belief that one is in a way different from others and therefore immune from the hardships of life. Personal specialness

A couple quotes from people who said they felt nothing; “Overdosed on heroine, EMT’s said my heart stopped. Didn’t see anything, just like sleeping with no dreams.” and “Pure,perfect, uninterrupted sleep,no dreams.”. A quote from someone who felt like they could see what was happening while dead; , “I do remember a little bit of the ambulance ride, but not from my own body. It was seriously the strangest thing I have ever experienced. It could have been a dream, but I saw my own unconscious body completely flatlined in the ambulance. I remember the EMT who was in the ambulance with me (whom I did not see before I passed out)”. And here is a quote from someone who had an interaction; "I was standing somewhere. There was a fog all around me, and I saw my best friend (who at the time I'd been fighting with and he'd stopped talking to me) come out of the mist. He told me that I couldn't go yet, that I have to keep trying, and if I promised not to give up, he'd see me back on Earth. I wordlessly agreed, and I was instantly pushed (into?) my body.".

In spite of this painful occurrence happening to me at twenty-four years of age, emotions such as shock, anger, and guilt, came into play creating chaos. I rerun her death in my mind, yet unable to completely forget the sadness, similar to a synopsis. These feelings can be frightening and overwhelming; however I have learned how to cope and with the realization that life and death are phenomenal both intertwined. I speculate that