Informative Essay: Examining Near Death Experiences

Examining Near Death Experiences
People have had near death experiences for thousands of years, but they have become more common in the last several years because of the medical technology that can bring more people back to life. (Jaegers 158) A near death experience can be called a NDE for short, but what exactly is an NDE? Jaegers answered that question. She states that NDE’s are visions that people of all ages and races can have. They mostly occur after an accident or traumatic injury patients. The visions consist of a dark tunnel leading to a light with occasional sightings of sparkles. People report seeing different images of people and talking to an individual who has varied from Jesus to Elvis and even Santa Claus. Out-of-body experiences
Doctors have come up with many possible causes of NDE’s and have found two major possible causes. The first cause is brain stimulation. There are many types of brain stimulation. Over the years many doctors have documented that if you touch directly above the right ear, the temporal lobe, the patient will experience many of the same sensations patients would experience in a NDE. Reported sensations include heavenly music, or a light appearing at the end of a tunnel, (Rivenburg 171) and also a feeling of “otherworldliness” as described by some. Another type of brain stimulation is a carbon dioxide overload to the head. The second possible cause of the NDE phenomenon is drugs. Morphine is believed to cause this mind experience or hallucinations. (Jaegers 163) Another drug is Ketamine, which again gives the person a mind experience like a NDE. (Morse no page) Ketamine is currently being used by ravers, who report these types of experiences. There are many other drugs, such as LSD, thorazine, codeine, and opium, that do the same thing. (Rivenburg 171; Jaegers
Raymond Moody, Dr. Melvin Morse and others have proven the idea of brain stimulation as the cause of NDE, to be false for most cases. (Morse no page) Morse and Moody say that brain stimulations cannot produce the “real” tunnel, the “real” light and other things that happen in an ordinary NDE. Jaegers states, “This stimulated experience is as much a counterfeit as a laser copy of the Mona Lisa!” Drugs, to help pain, couldn’t be a possible explanation either because there is no recorded side effect of the drug before the NDE occurred. The idea is thought to be half-baked. (Jaegers 163-164) In another document Dr. Morse proves that this idea is