How Near-Death Experiences Affect Individuals

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Near-Death experiences are very common today and have been throughout history. We hear of common phrases like “my life flashed before my eyes”, and “don’t enter the light”, in movies, books, and tales. Hollywood movies such as the 1990’s film Flatliners and the 1983’s film Brainstorm, bring to light in an entertaining fashion certain truths behind near death experiences. What are near-death experiences? Near-death experiences are phenomena that one experiences in a state of death or near-death. These experiences baffle the minds of scientists, even in today’s society. This has to be credited to the fact that, it isn’t fully understood even by our medical advances. It is also a complicated topic that brings the unending battle between science and religion. This paper, purposely written to bring to light the effect of near-death experiences on individuals, also looks into the history, fields of study, theories, and all associated controversies.
Understanding near-death experiences normally leads to the debate between science and religion. Science gives many theories as to how near-death experiences occur. On the other side of the coin, religious people believe near-death experiences are the proof of the afterlife and proof that the human mind, also known as the soul, can exist without the functioning of the human body. Both present remarkable arguments as to why one is correct, but both are, to put it plainly, hypotheses. Until further studies of near-death experiences and technological advances are made in the field of study, it will be reasonable to say that this debate would most likely have no winner. Rather than take the easy way out and present both sides of the story, and declare a stalemate, I decided to look at another si...

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...ear-death experience as a compensatory gift. Journal of Near-Death
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Ring, K., & Rosing, C. J. (1990). The Omega project: An empirical study of the NDE-prone personality. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 8(4), 211-239. doi: 10.1007/BF01074276
Ritchie, G. G., & Sherrill, E. (1978). Return from tomorrow. Old Tappan, NJ: F. H. Revell.
Sutherland, C. (1995). Children of the light: The near-death experiences of children. Sydney, Australia:
Bantam Books. van Lommel, P. (2010). Consciousness beyond life: The science of the near-death experience. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Waxman B., The After Effects Of The Near-Death Experience and Perceived Communications During Near
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http://www.academia.edu/2640195/Aftereffects_of_Near-Death_Experiences

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