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TL;DR
While the majority of NDEs are positive, a meaningful minority involve distressing, frightening, or hellish elements. Research estimates that roughly 1-15% of NDEs include negative content, depending on the study and definitions used. Distressing NDEs include experiences of void or nothingness, encounters with frightening entities, hellish landscapes, and overwhelming feelings of dread or isolation. Importantly, negative NDEs are not correlated with the experiencer's moral character, religious belief, or lifestyle — and many ultimately resolve into transformative experiences.
The data confirms that negative or distressing NDEs exist, though they are significantly less common than positive ones. Estimates of their prevalence range from roughly 1% to 15% of all NDEs, depending on the study and the criteria used to classify an experience as distressing. The wide range reflects differing definitions: some studies count only overtly hellish experiences, while others include experiences of void, isolation, or existential fear.
The data reveals several distinct types of distressing NDEs. The most commonly reported type involves an experience of void or nothingness — a featureless darkness accompanied by feelings of isolation, meaninglessness, or existential dread. The second type involves classically hellish imagery: fire, demonic entities, tortured landscapes, and overwhelming fear. The third type involves a positive NDE that becomes distressing — for instance, an experiencer who encounters the light but is told they must return, and experiences the return as agonizing or terrifying.
Experiencers of distressing NDEs describe their experiences with the same vivid, "more real than real" quality as positive NDE experiencers — the distressing elements are not vague or dreamlike but intensely present and real-feeling. Those who experienced the void describe an overwhelming sense of isolation, meaninglessness, and eternity — a darkness that felt infinite and permanent. Some describe it as the most terrifying experience of their lives.
Those who experienced hellish elements describe environments of suffering and malevolent presences. However, an important pattern emerges in many accounts: the distressing phase is not the end of the experience. A significant number of distressing NDE experiencers report that the experience transformed — often through a moment of surrender, calling out for help, or simply letting go of resistance — into a positive or transcendent experience. The darkness gave way to light, the fear to peace, the isolation to connection.
“It was a terrifying feeling, knowing I had really put myself in danger.”
Cassandra A NDENDEGreyson: 30/32
“You absolutely don’t want to go to the dark place.”
Jeff H STENDEGreyson: 26/32
“My dream started as a normal dream, this time with several people in a dark living room.”
Harry P STENDE
“Moments later, my consciousness slipped into darkness.”
Agnes GNDE
“I cannot tell you if I died or popped out of my body, but I do remember it being dark and then I was back in the pool.”
Mary Jo WNDE
“” I then went somewhere dark and was met with a familiar-feeling energy that I called the waiting room.”
Tiffany GNDE
“There was no tunnel, no darkness, and no out-of-body perception.”
Richard GNDE
“I felt incredible acceleration, hurtling through darkness on my back, with a sense of traveling along a runway.”
Marcus ENDE
Dr. Nancy Evans Bush and Dr. Bruce Greyson conducted the most comprehensive research on distressing NDEs, identifying three primary types: the inverse NDE (same elements as positive NDEs but experienced as terrifying), the void experience (featureless nothingness with existential despair), and the hellish NDE (imagery of punishment, torment, or malevolent entities). Their research found that none of these types correlated with the experiencer's moral character, criminal history, or religious standing.
Dr. Barbara Rommer's research found that distressing NDEs produced aftereffects that were ultimately similar to positive NDEs — including reduced fear of death, increased compassion, and a shift in values — though the path to these changes often involved a longer and more difficult integration process. Rommer classified many distressing NDEs as "meaningfully negative" — experiences that were painful but ultimately transformative.
Research by Dr. Kenneth Ring found that some experiencers who initially reported a distressing NDE later reframed it as a positive experience after years of reflection and integration. This suggests that the initial classification of an NDE as positive or negative may not capture its long-term significance and impact on the experiencer's life.
Distressing NDEs include features such as disturbing feelings and experiences of darkness and frightening images in different forms.
The classification of distressing NDEs includes 8 inverse, 8 hellish, and 1 void account.
n = 17
The deeper the NDE, the more negative, unpleasant, and harmful the NDEr’s experience of disclosure.
n = 105 · p p < .01 · effect size: small
Negative or hellish experiences were reported in 20% of the encounters.
20% · n = 11
The early aftermath of a near-death experience can be a positive, life-enhancing experience or an unpleasant and distressing experience.
One-third of study participants interpreted the NDE itself as a distressing experience rather than a positive one.
The existence of negative NDEs is important for the scientific understanding of the phenomenon. If NDEs were simply the brain generating a comforting experience during crisis (the "evolutionary comfort" hypothesis), distressing NDEs should not exist. Their presence suggests that NDEs are not mere wish fulfillment but reflect a more complex process.
From a psychological perspective, distressing NDEs may reflect the experiencer's psychological state at the time of the NDE. Some researchers have proposed that resistance to the dying process, extreme anxiety, or unresolved psychological conflict may influence whether the NDE takes a positive or negative form. However, this hypothesis is not well-supported by the data — many people with significant psychological issues have positive NDEs, and many psychologically healthy people have distressing ones.
The void-type distressing NDE is particularly interesting from a philosophical perspective. The experience of infinite, featureless nothingness — with full consciousness and the sense that it will last forever — raises questions about the nature of consciousness and existence that go beyond neurological explanation. Whether the void represents a genuine existential state, a stage in a larger process, or a neurological artifact is one of the more challenging questions in NDE research.
The transformation pattern — where distressing NDEs shift into positive experiences — is also scientifically noteworthy. It suggests that the distressing phase may not be the final or complete experience but rather one stage of a dynamic process. This pattern does not fit neatly into either the neurological or the spiritual interpretation, but it is consistent across enough cases to be considered a genuine phenomenon.
Distressing NDEs exist and occur in roughly 1-15% of all NDEs, including void experiences, hellish imagery, and positive NDEs experienced as frightening
Negative NDEs are not correlated with moral character, religious belief, or lifestyle — they occur across all demographics
Many distressing NDEs transform into positive experiences during the NDE itself, often through a moment of surrender or calling for help
The aftereffects of distressing NDEs are ultimately similar to positive NDEs — reduced fear of death, increased compassion, and shifted values — though integration takes longer
The existence of negative NDEs challenges the "evolutionary comfort" hypothesis and suggests NDEs are more complex than simple wish fulfillment
Experiencers of distressing NDEs often benefit from therapeutic support during the integration process, and their experiences deserve the same respectful attention as positive NDEs
The information on this page is drawn from Noeticmap's database of 8,940 documented near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and related accounts, as well as 6 peer-reviewed academic research papers. Experiences are sourced primarily from NDERF.org, OBERF.org, and ADCRF.org.
Each experience has been analyzed using established research frameworks including the Greyson NDE Scale (a standardized 32-point measure of NDE depth), element detection, and sentiment analysis. We present the data as objectively as possible — the quotes and statistics reflect what experiencers reported, not our interpretations.
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The visual elements of NDEs follow remarkably consistent patterns across thousands of independent accounts. The most commonly reported sights include an extraordinary bright light, a tunnel or passageway, celestial landscapes of extraordinary beauty, deceased relatives appearing healthy and whole, and luminous beings radiating love. These elements appear across cultures, ages, and belief systems with striking regularity.
NDEs produce documented, lasting changes in personality, values, and behavior that persist for years or decades after the experience. The most consistently reported aftereffects include dramatically reduced fear of death, increased compassion and empathy, a shift away from materialism toward meaning and relationships, enhanced appreciation for life, and a strong sense of purpose. These changes are observed across all demographics and are among the most well-established findings in NDE research.
According to thousands of NDE accounts, the moment of clinical death itself is overwhelmingly described as painless. While the medical events leading to death (injury, illness, cardiac arrest) can be extremely painful, experiencers consistently report that pain ceased instantly at the point of transition. The most common description of the dying moment is not pain but profound, overwhelming peace — a finding that is consistent across all medical triggers and demographics.
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