Increase in Psychic Phenomena Fonowing Near - Death Experiences Bruce Greyson

Near-death experiences, profound subjective events experienced on the threshold of death, have been extensively studied over the past decade. These near-death experiences (NDEs) often include events with apparently paranormal features. In one study (Greyson & Stevenson, 1980), 75% of subjects reported out-of-body experiences, 49% reported an apparitional experience, 39% reported apparent extrasensory experiences, and 21% reported having been the subject of someone else's psychic experience during the NDB. Though the paranormal element in NDEs has long been recognized, few near-death studies have focused on this aspect of the experience. Osis and Haraldsson (1977) claimed that their data on deathbed visions supported the hypothesis of an afterlife. Grosso (1981) interpreted deathbed ap­ paritions and veridical out-of-body perceptions during the NDE as evidence of an objective reality to the experience. Ring (1982) described the relatively rare but consistent precognitive visions reported to occur in NDEs, and concluded that their implications justified more extensive in­ vestigation. Elsewhere, he has argued (Ring, 1981) that paranormal aspects of the NDE suggest dimen­ sions of human existence inexplicable in terms of current models of psychospiritual functioning. Sabom (1981, 1982) focused on corroboration of perceptions while reportedly out of the body dur­ ing the NDE as a method for assessing the objective reality of the experience. Stevenson and Greyson (1979) suggested that research into the paranormal component of the NDE might clarify the relevance of these experiences for the question of postmortem survival. A particularly intriguing question, given the pro­ found personality transformations often reported to follow NDEs (Flynn, 1982), is the effect of a NDE on subsequent psychic and psi-related ex­ perience. A standardized questionnaire for assess­ mg such phenomena was developed by Palmer (1979}. who conducted a community mail survey to estimate the proportion of the general population that claims to have had various kinds of psychic ex­ periences. He stressed that the survey dealt with experiences that respondents claimed to have been psychic, and that no attempts were made to estimate what percentage of these cases actually re­ quired paranormal explanations. Despite this cau­ tion, his survey has proven to be a valuable sociological tooL Items in Palmer's survey were classed into the following categories (and others not relevant to the present discussion):