The Effects of Near-Death Experiences: A Study of Belgian ICU Patients

Belgium: What effect does a near-death experience have on a person? Scientists recently released a study report on 19 patients who came back from the brink of death. They are telling the facts about the state of death. Some scientists in Belgium released a study report on 19 people who were on the verge of death while being treated in the ICU. Scientists have been carefully observing them for 12 months.

A study published in the journal Critical Care found that 15 percent of patients surveyed had a near-death experience. Scientists at the University of Liege in Belgium first examined 126 patients who had been in five ICUs for more than a week. The study was conducted on patients admitted to ICU for various reasons including respiratory, cardiac, digestive, renal, neurological and metabolic diseases. Most of them were admitted for surgical reasons.

Of those, 15 percent, or 19, were found to have had a near-death experience. Later these patients were observed. They were interviewed three to seven days after discharge from the hospital and asked about the mood swings they experienced. They were also asked about spiritual, religious and personal beliefs. When the patients were first interviewed, those who had had a near-death experience were found to be more prone to dissociative symptoms.

Feeling pain-free and unsure of who you are is what each of them experienced when they were on the brink of death. The researchers contacted them again a year later to measure their quality of life. It is also found that these people are more interested in spiritual matters. It must be said that even though they were on the brink of death, that mentality did not affect their lives afterwards.