The first scale for evaluating near-death experiences – the so-called “Greyson scale” – was developed in 1983. To this day, it has been used to assess the psychometric properties of near-death experiences in order to distinguish them from other altered states of consciousness, such as narcotic hallucinations.
In November 2020, Belgian scientists led by Charlotte Martial proposed a new scale, based on the information from the latest research. The purpose of these changes is to introduce a common standard in the evaluation of NDEs in the scientific community.
Martial et al. identify 7 points that distinguish near-death experiences from other similar experiences: the feeling of leaving the body; the presence of a bright light; a feeling of leaving the earthly world or entering a new dimension; feeling like you have passed the point of no return; deciding to return from the experience; being convinced that you have died; passing through a “gate” or a tunnel.
In total, the new scale includes 20 items, which were applied to a sample of 403 people who have had a near-death experience in a life-threatening situation. Interestingly, out-of-body experiences were considered a mandatory item on the old Grayson scale, yet it said nothing about a passage through a tunnel or “gate” till now.
What do you think? If near-death experiences are a kind of phase state, is it worthwhile, in principle, to pay attention to the elements witnessed there?
The study was published in November 2020 in the Consciousness and Cognition journal.
