Patients who have undergone clinical death and out-of-body experiences are often afraid to share their stories with others. When discussing them with medical professionals or clergymen, as well as loved ones, they encounter misunderstanding and rejection, finding themselves isolated and depressed.
Members of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), Lilia Samoilo and Diane Corcoran, have been helping people overcome these negative experiences for nearly 40 years. In an article published in the spring of 2020, scientists and activists talk about the gap in care for patients who come out of near-death experiences and the consequences of this attitude.
In the article, the authors discuss twelve patient stories of near-death experiences. While caring for these patients in hospitals, they often encountered prejudiced attitudes from healthcare providers. The authors pay special attention to children who have experienced clinical death. They usually encounter skepticism, and are sometimes even punished for lying. For young patients, the impact of such experiences on later life is often more significant than for adults.
For example, one of the people interviewed for the article, Bill McDonald, who had a similar experience as a child, says: “Medical personnel refused to listen to my NDE, I was forbidden to discuss it. Looking back, I have bitter memories of being ignored and treated as if I was mentally ill.” According to the authors, medical school curricula should include information about near-death experiences, to enable future medical staff to give people who have experienced clinical death adequate support.
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The study was published in the Spring 2020 issue of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics.
