Near-Death Experiences Precipitated by Suicide Attempt: Lack of Influence of Psychopathology, Religion, and Expectations

Near-death experiences (NDEs), transcendental or mystical events experienced on the threshold of death, have been speculated to arise from psychopathology or from pre-existing expectations of the dying process, although such speculations have never been tested. Sixty-one consecutive suicide attempters were interviewed in this empirical study of persons who would be expected to have a high rate of both psychopathology and coming close to death; 16 (26%) reported near-death experiences (NDEs) as a result of the attempt. The group reporting NDEs and the group not reporting NDEs did not differ from each other in any parameters measuring psychopathology, religious background, or expectations of death and dying. Reports of near-death experiences (NDEs), subjective events with t ranscendental or mystical elements tha t some persons experience when close to death, suggest tha t study of these phenomena may yield insights into the psychodynamics of our concepts of death and dying (Greyson, 1983). NDEs appear to induce substantial personali ty transformations (Noyes, 1980; Ring, 1984) and a significant reduction in suicidal ideation (Greyson, 1981). Despite the potential importance of near-death research for personali ty theory and suicide prevention, Dr. Greyson is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. At the time of this study, he was Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Greyson at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06030. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 9(3) Spring 1991 9 1991 Human Sciences Press, Inc, 183 184 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES however, few empirical studies of NDEs among suicide attempters have been conducted. It has been speculated that NDEs arise as a manifestation of psychopathology (Greyson and Harris, 1987) or fulfillment of prior expectations of the dying process (Greyson, 1983). Although these hypotheses are contradicted by anecdotal data (Sabom, 1982), they have yet to be tested systematically. An analysis of the psychological meaning and value of the NDE must take into account the role of psychopathology and expectancy in these experiences. I previously reported the incidence of NDEs among an unselected sample of consecutive suicide attempters to be 26%, and the finding that NDEs among that sample were not related to age, gender, or race (Greyson, 1986). In the present paper, I describe these patients' prior evidence of psychopathology, religious background, and expectations of death and dying. I then describe the relation of those factors to the occurrence of NDEs following the suicide attempt, and discuss the implications of these data for hypotheses about the NDE.