One in Ten People Have Had a Near-Death Experience, Shows Research

A near-death experience (NDE) is a phenomenon that is usually experienced by people who have been in life-threatening incidents such as car crashes or heart attacks, and sometimes natural situations such as giving birth.

While this phenomenon is thought to be a rare one, a new study from Denmark suggests that actually, a majority of people have had a near-death experience. In fact, the study suggests one out of ten people have gone through with it. The study was published in EurekAlert.

Victims often describe the incident as actually dying and feeling a sudden peace as if one has passed away. Paralyzed and confused, some of the victims describe the experience as pleasant while others have said it was scary as it was very much like, well, death itself.

Closely resembling lucid dreaming, those who have had a near-death experience say that they had a quite spiritual out-of-body experience in which they were in no connection with the physical world. Some of the victims also state that they have had visions of going through a tunnel towards a bright light or even making contact with their deceased relatives and loved ones. 

A high number of people who have had a near-death experience have also experienced lucid dreaming. This correlation is what the scientists are relying on while trying to solve the puzzle of the near-death experience.

The study’s lead researcher Dr. Daniel Kondziella, also a neurologist at the University of Copenhagen, confirmed the two phenomena might be interlinked by stating “We confirmed the association of near-death experiences with rapid-eye-movement sleep intrusion”. 

In a life-threatening situation, even though the body is still alive the brain reacts in a way as if it is dead. There is, of course, a scientific explanation to it. This particular reaction body gives when faced with unexpected and/or dangerous situations is pretty similar to that of lucid dreaming; Our brain has a mean defense mechanism in times of trouble.