I decided to post a list of things that skeptics claim cause near death experiences, or can duplicate a near death experience. These “causes” were taken directly from skeptical articles and writings. In truth, skeptics know very little about near death experiences, I have never met one that did. The one important fact that they ignore is that NDEs are really caused by clinical death. We have good, solid research on this, showing that consciousness continues after the death of the brain and body. Nothing physical can cause a classical near death experience. But on the list below are only physical causes because skeptics still falsely believe that the spiritual world is nonsense. That is their loss.
Hallucinations caused by trauma
Ketamine, a general anaesthetic and tranquilizer
Anecdotal nonsense
Fizzing neurons in my oxygen-starved brain
Anesthesia awareness, in which a person is conscious but can’t move
Fighter pilots experiencing rapid acceleration in a centrifuge
Psychosis, due to severe neurochemical imbalance
Sluggish brain activity
Sound transmission through the operating table itself (love this one)
Dimethyltryptamine, (DMT) a naturally-occurring tryptamine and psychedelic drug
Electrical stimulation of the temporal lobe
High levels of carbon dioxide (hypercarbia)
REM intrusion
Cascade of electrical activity in a dying brain
LSD, psilocarpine, and/or mescaline
Altered blood levels of carbon dioxide and potassium
Pineal gland, home to this “spirit molecule.”
Recollections, consisting of fragmented and random memories
Delusions while using drugs or alcohol
Tricks of the mind
False memories
Brain states that occur due to a dying
Neural noise, the effect would be a light at the center
Cerebral anoxia, the lack of oxygen to the brain
Dissociation, a typical reaction to stress
Rapid firing of neuronal mechanisms
NDE accounts may have been contaminated
NDEs are the work of Satan
Telepathic communications from doctors, nurses
Overheard while in a groggy state
Use of Ouija board while stoned on marijuana
Septic shock, from myocardial ischemia (Cardiogenic shock)
Temporolimbic epilepsy
Dreams, just dreams
Near-Death Experiences are in the Mind
Nothing more than neuronal events
(Now which one is it, or it is all of them, or part of them, that a rational person is supposed to believe. Skeptics speak nonsense.)
After looking through this list if you see anything I have missed, please add it as a comment to this post. I will thank you for it.
