Table of contents:
- The near death experience varies depending on the culture
- What do you usually feel during suspended animation?
- Feeling really dead
- The feeling of the soul comes out of the body
- Interaction with the dead
- See a tunnel of light
Near death experience (NDE) or more commonly known as suspended animation is a phenomenon that is quite often encountered in everyday life. Suspension is often described as the feeling that a person's soul has left the body, followed by the experience of passing through a dark tunnel with light at the end of the tunnel, and going to a dimension where one feels warm, comfortable and loved.
The near death experience varies depending on the culture
Many people associate this near death experience as a mystical event, even though many recent studies have shown that NDE is a manifestation of conditions in the brain and can be explained by science. The near death experience is influenced by the cultural culture in each region. Therefore, the torpor experienced by Indonesians may be different from that experienced by Europeans.
Suspension is found throughout the world population. About 3% of the American population claims to have experienced suspended animation, this experience is also experienced by around 4-5% of the European population. Suspended death is more common in women than men, and is more common in someone under 60 years of age. About 50% of people who experienced suspended animation felt that they had actually died, 56% felt that it was a positive experience, 24% felt that their soul had left their body or out of body experience (OBE), 31% reported tunneling experiences, and 32% reported interactions with people who had died.
What do you usually feel during suspended animation?
Feeling really dead
Feelings of being dead are often reported by people experiencing torpor. This feeling is also experienced by those who suffer from cotard syndrome, it is associated with brain disorders in the parietal and prefrontal cortex, and generally disappears after a few days. This has been reported in people with head injuries, severe typhoid, and multiple sclerosis. It is not yet known why a person experiences the feeling of being dead, the logical explanation is that perhaps this is just an attempt by the patient to understand the strange experience he was experiencing.
The feeling of the soul comes out of the body
Out of body experience (OBE) is often described as a feeling of "floating" outside the body, and is sometimes accompanied by autoscopy, which is seeing one's own body as "floating". Although it is often seen as a mystical experience, OBE can also occur in other conditions, such as when someone experiences it sleep paralysis or better known as "ketindihan". When they are under depression, the body is in a REM phase or deep sleep, but their brains are partially awakened.
Olaf Blanke's research succeeded in triggering artificial OBE by stimulating the temporoparietal part of the brain. The study also concluded that OBE occurs when the brain fails to integrate various sensory stimuli from the external environment.
Interaction with the dead
In various religions and oral stories, many claim that when we die, we will be surrounded by the dead and angels. This also affects the experience we feel during suspended animation. This phenomenon is thought to be due to a dopamine disorder. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that can cause a person to experience hallucinations. Symptoms interact with something that is not real also experienced by patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and macular degeneration.
In people with macular degeneration of the eye, impaired vision causes the brain to try to compensate by presenting other images that are not there. Therefore, it can be concluded that this experience of interaction with the dead could be due to impaired dopamine function and impaired sensory input.
See a tunnel of light
Seeing tunnels of light is one of the most commonly reported phenomena after suspended animation, which can be caused by a reduced supply of blood and oxygen to the retina of the eye. When the retina is deprived of oxygen and becomes ischemic, the vision in the periphery of the eye will suffer first. This disturbance then extends towards the center, making it appear as a tunnel.
Suspension is a unique experience with a variety of complex mechanisms behind it, ranging from oxygen deprivation, REM sleep disruption, dopamine dysfunction, and cultural influences and beliefs. One thing that we need to underline is that NDE does not have to be completely mystical and can be explained by science, so you don't need to overthink if you experience it.
