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. 2009 Oct;6(10):35–42.

Table 2.

Potential after-effects of NDEs

PERCEPTION OF SELF

  • Loss of fear of death

  • Strengthened belief in life after death

  • Feeling specially favored by God

  • New sense of purpose or mission

  • Heightened self esteem

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHERS

  • Increased compassion and love for others

  • Lessened concern for material gain, recognition, or status

  • Greater desire to serve others

  • Increased ability to express feelings

ATTITUDE TOWARD LIFE

  • Greater appreciation of and zest for life

  • Increased focus on the present

  • Deeper religious faith or heightened spirituality

  • Search for knowledge

  • Greater appreciation for nature

PARANORMAL PHENOMENON

  • Out-of-body experiences

  • Apparitions

  • Extrasensory perception

  • Precognition

  • Healing

  • Spiritual, mystical, or transcendent experiences

ALTERATIONS IN PERCEPTION/CONSCIOUSNESS

  • Heightened sensation

  • Physiological alterations

  • Unusual movements, sensations

  • Unusual stimulation of special senses

  • Mental changes

  • Increased energy, decreased need for sleep

Adapted from Noyes R, Fenwick P, Holden JM et al. After-effects of pleasurable Western adult near-death experiences. In: Holden JM, Greyson B, James D (eds). The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers; 2009: 46-47.