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A team of international experts presents the history, recent developments, and controversies in the intriguing study of near-death experience.

Experts from around the world share the history and current state of near-death experience (NDE) knowledge. They explore controversies in the field, offer stories from their research, and express their hopes for the future of investigation into this fascinating phenomenon.

As modern medical techniques for resuscitation advance, NDEs are more frequently reported. These include more than the popular notions of moving through a tunnel or seeing a light. They also include people, once revived, knowing things their knowledge of which can't currently be explained. As The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation makes clear, great controversy exists in the medical and psychological fields concerning NDEs. Are they caused by physiological changes in the brain, or are they biological reactions to oxygen loss or impending death? Are they a product of changing states of consciousness? Or are they caused by something else altogether? All of these ideas and more are discussed in this unique and comprehensive volume.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Foreword(p. vii)
• Preface(p. xiii)
• 1 The Field of Near-Death Studies: Past, Present, and Future(p. 1)
• 2 Pleasurable Western Adult Near-Death Experiences: Features, Circumstances, and Incidence(p. 17)
• 3 Aftereffects of Pleasurable Western Adult Near-Death Experiences(p. 41)
• 4 Distressing Western Near-Death Experiences: Finding a Way through the Abyss(p. 63)
• 5 "Trailing Clouds of Glory": The Near-Death Experiences of Western Children and Teens(p. 87)
• 6 Characteristics of Western Near-Death Experiences(p. 109)
• 7 Census of Non-Western Near-Death Experiences to 2005: Observations and Critical Reflections(p. 135)
• 8 World Religions and Near-Death Experiences(p. 159)
• 9 Veridical Perception in Near-Death Experiences(p. 185)
• 10 Explanatory Models for Near-Death Experiences(p. 213)
• 11 Practical Applications of Research on Near-Death Experiences(p. 235)
• References(p. 259)
• Subject Index(p. 303)
• Name Index(p. 309)
• About the Editors and Contributors(p. 313)

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CHOICE Review

People who have been revived after being close to death sometimes report memories of dramatic and vivid experiences occurring while death was imminent. These near-death experiences (NDEs) include cognitions, perceptions, and emotions. For instance, some people have recalled out-of-body sensations, as though they were floating above and looking down at themselves. Some NDEs have been described as life-changing events. What is the source of these memories? One possibility is that they are the result of chaotic activity of a brain exposed to the cascade of unique neural events accompanying extreme disruption of normal physiology. A second possibility is that they are evidence that the dying individual has caught a fleeting look at an existence after life or on a plane other than that of the physical world. Holden (counseling and higher education, Univ. of North Texas), Greyson (psychiatry and neurobehavioral science, Univ. of Virginia Medical School), and James (nursing, Univ. of Texas Cancer Center) are concerned with the second possibility. The book's eleven chapters (each with references) cover a variety of topics: e.g., the history of NDE studies; pleasurable and distressing NDEs; NDEs in children; religious connections; and practical implications. The research relies heavily on interviews, questionnaires, and anecdotes. Summing Up: Recommended. General collections only. R. H. Cormack New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Janice Miner Holden , EdD, is professor of counseling and chair of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX. She is current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Near-Death Studies .

Bruce Greyson , MD, is founder and longtime research director of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, Durham, NC. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and is the Chester R. Carlson Professor of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences, in addition to director of the Division of Perceptual Studies, at the University of Virginia Medical School.

Debbie James , RN/MSN, is senior instructor in the Nursing Education Department at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.