Scholars suggest health care workers convey research findings on Near-Death Experiences.
Scientific evidence of survival beyond physical death can be a powerful tool to lessen anxiety surrounding the fear of death, two respected scholars say. Yakov Shapiro and Carlos E. Maldonado wrote in the July 7 article in the Journal of Scientific Exploration that “death anxiety” factors in a diverse range of psychopathologies from panic disorder, to obsessive-compulsive disorder, to depression and substance abuse.
Death anxiety is a universal human experience, and even an existential, unconscious trauma, Shapiro and Maldonado write. Its expressions vary across existing cultures, but at its root it is a consequence of “evolving self-awareness, i.e. our ability to experience a conscious sense of Self and to anticipate our future.” Death threatens to extinguish this Self, activating fear, terror, sadness and grief. Children start to experience this dread as young as four years old.
One of the universal features of NDEs is the alleviation of death anxiety as one of the transformative, lasting effects of the experience. Other effects include a heightened sense of meaning and purpose, increased altruism for others and nature, and a less materialistic attitude. The authors also note that in all NDEs, a sense of self-identity remains through the experience.
Traditional therapy, such as psychosocial and cognitive-behavior interventions, have shown only small to moderate impacts to soothe the fear of death, according to recent research.
The authors contend that sharing the “science of disembodied experience” can be more effective. They argue the work of American physicist David Bohm, coupled with advances in quantum information science, and research on Near Death Experiences (NDEs), yield a scientifically sound model of life after death. They point out that more than a hundred cases of “veridical” NDEs have been documented, where a clinically dead person makes specific, detailed observations which are later confirmed by witnesses. Conventional science has not been able to explain this phenomenon.
Health care personnel and caregivers could summarize this science as a form of therapy for patients facing death. The effectiveness of such a treatment could be tested and compared to traditional treatments. The authors don’t offer a practical application, but they outline their own model of this science of disembodied experience.
Shapiro is a clinical professor and psychotherapy supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Maldonado is a philosopher and professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad El Bosque, Colombia.
Written by Tom Zolper
Edited by Anders Bolling and Liza Horan
