Patients come close to death in hospitals, and sometimes they have profound psychological experiences. Some even talk about "joy… a sense of being separated from one’s body" and other phenomena while the event is happening. I'm not about to weigh in on the subjective experience, but the psychological effect seems to be profound, and most people who've had an NDE consider it a life-changing event.
There has been more academic interest in NDEs in recent years, and also some rampant quackery. This recent Atlantic article does an OK job at covering some of the questions from a lay perspective, and I've liked the academic work of Bruce Grayson, who looks at some of the neurological causes and effects of NDEs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179792/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/04/the-science-of-near-death-experiences/386231/
I guess my question is this. How do you treat a patient with an NDE? Should there be more sensitivity? A psych visit?
Really love to hear about personal experiences with patients. Also from medical practitioners who've had an NDE. Most doctor's who've written about NDEs have turned it into kind of a sideshow in my opinion, about "proof of heaven," etc., but I know there must be critical thinkers about it out there as well. Thank you!
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