Living Beyond: Making Sense of Near Death Experiences

DEPRESSION CAN BE TEMPORARY — HOPE IS ETERNAL

Some pleasant NDEs are described by people whose mental illness led to suicide. Where mental illness derives from a physical disorder of the brain, this ceases at death, similar to how deaf or blind people have their brain-centred senses restored in the afterlife. Yay! Similarly, with those who were suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions caused by a malfunctioning of the brain: their imperfect brains have been left behind on Earth, and they experience restoration. We might speculate about those whose life ends through euthanasia. I have seen no accounts by any returnees to help me explore afterlife experiences of those who make this choice or have it made for them. Of interest, Holland was the first country in the world in the year 2000 to legalise euthanasia and cardiologist Pim van Lommel is their most prominent NDE researcher. He originally began his investigations determined to debunk this “afterlife nonsense”. Convinced now regarding the afterlife and the survival of the consciousness, he cautions: “The conclusion that consciousness can be experienced independently of brain function might well induce a huge change in the scientific paradigm in Western medicine, and could have practical implications in actual medical and ethical problems such as the care for comatose or dying patients, euthanasia, abortion ….” There are still more questions than answers!