Comparing Near- Death Experiences and Shared Death Experiences: An Illuminating Contrast.

Near- death experiences (NDEs) are transpersonal events reported by individuals to have occurred while they were physically and/or psychologically close to death, whereas shared death experiences (SDEs) are transpersonal events reported by individuals to have occurred around the time of death of another person. In this paper, we compare the features and aftereffects reported in a study of 617 NDEs to those reported in a study of 164 SDEs. We found that NDEs and SDEs have a remarkably similar set of common features and aftereffects as well as key differences. When viewed together, these similarities and differences support the idea that NDEs and SDEs are different perspectives of a singular phenomenon, namely the transition between physical and non- physical existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]