Ihre Suche

Cases of terminal lucidity (TL) in children have recently been documented in contemporary literature, yet no studies have examined the impact on caregivers of witnessing TL in children. Using an online survey, this study assessed the impact of witnessing TL in children on seven caregivers who described a total of 11 cases of TL in children. Findings revealed that witnessing TL in children was considered a spiritual experience that influenced caregivers’ belief systems. All caregivers had disclosed what they had witnessed to others, resulting in a mixture of skeptical and accepting reactions. Findings suggest witnessing TL in children may initiate a spiritual transformation that has similar implications for enhancing end-of-life care and creating ‘space’ for TL to be perceived as a natural part of the dying process in terminally ill children.

It is generally assumed that nonresponsive people in comatose states are unconscious, especially when it is known that their neuronal circuits are not functioning normally, for example, due to severe anoxia and medically induced comas. Nevertheless, occasional reports suggest that sometimes, patients in such conditions can be fully aware of everything that happens around them. The present publication introduces a well-documented case of this kind. It concerns a patient in Israel who was diagnosed with cerebral edema and suffered severe anoxic brain damage that had already affected his brain stem. He was put in an induced coma to minimize the brain’s oxygen consumption. Still, he was expected to die within hours. However, the patient recovered unexpectedly. It turned out he had been fully conscious throughout the 44 hours he was in this coma. As a result, he was able to describe in detail every occurrence and conversation that had been held at his bedside throughout this time. This locked-in experience had an utterly traumatic impact on the patient. As a result, practices for coma patient care have been adapted and improved in Israel. We argue that it is important to raise awareness regarding the occurrence of such “paradoxical awareness” and hope that this increased recognition will help to improve the practices for coma patient care, also in other countries. Moreover, such individual case studies are vital for advancing the knowledge about the brain conditions under which it is possible to be aware – a largely neglected field of research that may have further important implications, for instance, in the context of organ donation.

In an earlier study, Rupert Sheldrake, Pam Smart, and Michael Nahm reviewed accounts of end-of-life experiences (ELEs) involving non-human animals. They showed animal ELEs to be similar to human ELEs, suggesting common underlying processes. Here, we consider apparent after-death communications (ADCs) from non-human animals and compare them to accounts of ADCs from humans. We collected 442 accounts of animal ADCs from our own appeals and from reports in the literature. We found a close resemblance between ADCs from animals and from humans in the types of experience—dream visitations, a sense of presence, visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory apparitions, and psychokinetic effects. As with human ADCs, the great majority of animal ADCs were reported to have occurred in the first hours or days after death, with a dramatic falling off over time. Moreover, our data show that people grieve their pets in much the same fashion as they grieve their human loved ones, suggesting that human bereavement studies would do well to take into account the animal data to which we draw attention. Doing so may help clarify issues regarding the fundamental nature of the experiences—determining whether they are best regarded as internal hallucinations, as living-agent-psi-mediated subjective or objective phenomena, or as actual contacts with the deceased—which in turn carries implications not only for academic studies of bereavement but for clinical practice with the bereaved.

In an earlier study, Rupert Sheldrake, Pam Smart, and Michael Nahm reviewed accounts of end-of-life experiences (ELEs) involving non-human animals. They showed animal ELEs to be similar to human ELEs, suggesting common underlying processes. Here, we consider apparent after-death communications (ADCs) from non-human animals and compare them to accounts of ADCs from humans. We collected 442 accounts of animal ADCs from our own appeals and from reports in the literature. We found a close resemblance between ADCs from animals and from humans in the types of experience—dream visitations, a sense of presence, visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory apparitions, and psychokinetic effects. As with human ADCs, the great majority of animal ADCs were reported to have occurred in the first hours or days after death, with a dramatic falling off over time. Moreover, our data show that people grieve their pets in much the same fashion as they grieve their human loved ones, suggesting that human bereavement studies would do well to take into account the animal data to which we draw attention. Doing so may help clarify issues regarding the fundamental nature of the experiences—determining whether they are best regarded as internal hallucinations, as living-agent-psi-mediated subjective or objective phenomena, or as actual contacts with the deceased—which in turn carries implications not only for academic studies of bereavement but for clinical practice with the bereaved.

The sporadic occurrence of unusually enhanced mental clarity before death has been documented over time and cultures, and reported in patients with and without neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric disorders, and other neurocognitive deficits, as well as those with nonterminal and terminal conditions. Using a purposive sampling method via existing professional networks, clinical presentations of terminal lucidity in pediatric populations, as witnessed by pediatric oncologists and medical personnel, were solicited. We document clinical presentations suggestive of terminal lucidity in children, which were compiled by their attending physician at two large tertiary pediatric hospitals. Unanticipated and unexplained changes in mental clarity, verbal communication, and/or physical capability in the days and hours before the death of the pediatric patients were observed. Each patient's medical condition should not have allowed for such changes. The phenomenon known as terminal lucidity provides a conceptual framework for these deviations, although more systematic documentation and clinical research is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn.

In letzter Zeit hat das Interesse an Erfahrungen am Lebensende (ELEs; „end-of-life experiences“) bei Menschen zugenommen, aber ELEs bei Tieren wurden bisher nicht untersucht. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir die Ergebnisse einer Studie vor, die wir durchgeführt haben, um Berichte über bemerkenswerte Verhaltensaspekte von Tieren während ihrer letzten Lebensphase zu sammeln und zu analysieren. Auf öffentliche Aufrufe, in denen wir um Berichte über ELEs bei Tieren baten, erhielten wir zahlreiche Antworten von Tierbesitzern. Wir konnten diese Erfahrungen bestimmten Kategorien zuordnen, die wir als „letzte Abschiede“, „letzte Besuche“, „letzte Erholungen“, „Rückzug in die Einsamkeit“, „ungewöhnliche Vorausahnungen des Todes“, „körperliche Überraschungen“, „terminale Geistesklarheit bei Tieren“ und mögliche „Todesnähe-Visionen bei Tieren“ bezeichnet haben. Wir präsentieren 43 Fallberichte aus diesen verschiedenen Kategorien. Viele von ihnen weisen auffällige Ähnlichkeiten mit bemerkenswerten Verhaltensweisen von Menschen in Todesnähe auf. Diese Ähnlichkeit zwischen tierischen und menschlichen ELEs könnte ein Zeichen für eine gemeinsame Physiologie sein, die solchen Erfahrungen zugrunde liegt. Sie könnte auch die Anerkennung dessen fördern, dass Tiere in allen Lebensphasen über ein ähnliches Innenleben verfügen wie Menschen. Dies könnte zu einem respektvolleren Umgang mit Haustieren sowie mit Tieren auf Bauernhöfen, in Zoos und in freier Wildbahn führen. Da unsere Studie jedoch nur vorläufigen Charakter besitzt und die erste ihrer Art darstellt, regen wir weitere systematische Forschung auf diesem Gebiet an.