Daily Spiritual Experiences Before and After Near-Death Experiences

People who have near-death experiences (NDEs) often report a subsequently increased sense of spirituality and a connection with their inner self and the world around them. In this study, we examined daily spiritual experiences, using Underwood and Teresi’s (2002) Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, among 229 persons who had come close to death. Frequency of daily spiritual experiences before the close brush with death did not differentiate participants who had NDEs (n 204) from those who did not (n 25). However, participants who described having had NDEs reported more daily spiritual experiences after their brush with death than those who did not, and frequency of daily spiritual experiences after the brush with death was positively correlated with depth of NDE. We discussed the implications of these findings in light of other reported aftereffects of NDEs and of daily spiritual experiences among other populations.