Death still is — and will likely remain for some time — the undiscovered country, but although much of it is a mystery, we're still doing what we can to unravel it. We may not know much, but what we do know is at least something. Blundon, E. Electrophysiological evidence of preserved hearing at the end of life.
Sci Rep 10, Borjigin, J. Surge of neurophysiological coherence and connectivity in the dying brain. Cassol, H. Frontiers in psychology , 11 , Understanding relatives' experience of death rattle. BMC psychology , 8 1 , Javan, G. Sci Rep 6, Yes, I can. I can say that death is an adventure, which to me is the oddest thing in the world.
It takes you from this Earth, this ordinary Earth, into extraordinary places. One of the experiences I describe is of the renowned psychologist Carl Jung, who died when he had a heart attack in his 60s. He was ultimately revived, and came back describing, in great detail, how he had seen the universe.
One of the people I interviewed had a similar experience. And that shocked the hell out of me because that's the kind of experience I would love to have. Like an astronaut's delight. You're up there. You can move toward planets or away from planets. You can see the Earth.
It's gorgeous. It's interesting. And it doesn't cost a thing. Simon Worrall curates Book Talk. Follow him on Twitter or at simonworrallauthor. All rights reserved. You coin several new terms in the book. What's a Galileo? Why do you think the scientific community is so hostile to the idea of NDEs?
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Travel My Hometown In L. Travel The last artists crafting a Thai royal treasure. Subscriber Exclusive Content. Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars? How viruses shape our world. A middle-aged man who wasn't in scrubs standing still at the end of my bed while all staff were running around and doing their business. I was having a non-verbal conversation with him and he was telling me to calm down, focus on breathing. He wore a tropical style button down shirt, one of those old school news boys hats and had a very pleasant demeanor.
Mom showed me a photo of my grampa that I never had seen before, and it was the guy at the foot of my bed, and he died before I was even born.
I think she was out for 90 seconds or close to it. She wasn't religious or anything. She said that she remembered being in the room and seeing her dead uncle and cousin standing at the far end of the room watching everything going on. Fun fact: she shared this information during an icebreaker "give us a fun fact about yourself.
We talked for a while and he said I could go back with him, or stay. I looked down and saw myself in that hospital bed with my brother holding my hand. He felt it turn cold and I never saw him cry that way before. Went back into my body and felt more pain than I knew in my life. My great grandma pulled me out of the car and we walked through this really peaceful field of flowers.
When I woke up two weeks later she was sitting on the edge of my bed and told me to tell my mom that everything was going to be okay. My great grandma died when I was 10 and before that she had been bedridden after a stroke. I never saw her walk or heard her talk in my entire life. It was amazing and beautiful. The last thing I remembered were faces of the doctors and nurses above me while I was lying on my back. Then I flatlined. The weirdest, unexplainable thing happened then and there — I suddenly could see the whole scene as a spectator, like I was a floating spirit in that room.
I could see myself getting revived, saw my mom crying and my dad comforting her. Then, I saw a white entity shaped like my body, falling through the ceiling and slowly, like a leaf on the wind, falling down to eventually land inside my body. That's when that experience ended. I was put in a medically induced coma, and I woke up after some days, I don't remember. I had stuff plugged into me, an IV, red glowing elastic ring on my finger etc.
Anyway, I later mentioned to the doctors that I saw it all, I saw them using the defibrillators, my parents etc. No one really believed me and told me that I was probably dreaming and biasing my memories due to watching tv, but I know what I saw!
Professor Hillman believes death is over-medicalised, particularly in old age, and he urges families to acknowledge when a loved one is dying and to discuss their wishes: where they want to die, whether they want medical interventions, what they don't want to happen.
Palliative Care Nurses Australia president Jane Phillips says someone's end-of-life preferences should be understood early but also revisited throughout the dying process as things can change. With the right support systems in place, dying at home can be an option. Studies show that hearing is the last sense to fade, so people are urged to keep talking calmly and reassuringly to a dying person as it can bring great comfort even if they do not appear to be responding.
And I would advise the same to the family as well. On his ICU ward, Professor Hillman encourages relatives to "not be afraid of the person on all these machines". Hearing is the last sense to fade so people are urged to keep talking calmly and reassuringly to a dying person.
Remember that while the physical or mental changes can be distressing to observe, they're not generally troubling for the person dying. Once families accept this, they can focus on being with their dying loved one. Professor Boughey says people should think about how the person would habitually like them to act. If you like to hold and touch and communicate, do what you would normally do," he says.
Other things that can comfort a dying person are playing their favourite music, sharing memories, moistening their mouth if it becomes dry, covering them with light blankets if they get cold or damp cloths if they feel hot, keeping the room air fresh, repositioning pillows if they get uncomfortable and gently massaging them. These gestures are simple but their significance should not be underestimated. In Australia, the moment of death is defined as when either blood circulation or brain function irreversibly cease in a person.
Both will eventually happen when someone dies, it's just a matter of what happens first. Brain death is less common, and occurs after the brain has been so badly damaged that it swells, cutting off blood flow, and permanently stops, for example following a head injury or a stroke. After circulation ceases, the brain then becomes deprived of oxygenated blood and stops functioning. The precise time it takes for this to happen depends on an individual's prior condition, says intensive care specialist Dr Matthew Anstey, a clinical senior lecturer at University of Western Australia.
It can take a minute or two minutes for brain cells to die when they have no blood flow. This means, on some level, the brain remains momentarily active after a circulatory death. And while research in this space is ongoing, Dr Anstey does not believe people would be conscious at this point. Cells in other organs — such as the liver and kidneys — are comparatively more resilient and can survive longer without oxygen, Dr Anstey says. This is essential for organ donation, as the organs can remain viable hours after death.
In a palliative care setting, Professor Boughey says the brain usually becomes inactive around the same time as the heart. But he says that, ultimately, it is the brain's gradual switching off of various processes — including breathing and circulation — that leads to most deaths.
He says it's why sometimes, just before death, a person can snap into a moment of clarity where they say something to their family. But there is this change where the body no longer is in the presence of the living.
It's still, its colour changes. Things just stop. And it's usually very, very gentle. It's not dramatic.
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