Near-death and Shared-death experiences are both rare phenomena that have existed for centuries but people have started to open up about it in the recent era. If I talk about the number of people who know about these phenomena, most people have heard about NDEs but when it comes to SDEs, they are even rarer. But, If I have to say about experiences that people have gone through, there aren’t many in both cases. A few researches on SDEs and NDEs are going on. However, the facts are still unknown for both like why these occur or if there is any scientific reason behind them because the foundation of these researches is based on the insights and reports of people who have experienced one of these phenomena.
Overview of NDEs and SDEs
You must have heard some stories like a person died and came back to life, this kind of experience is associated with an NDE, which is a Near-Death experience. Speaking of which, the soul leaves the body for a few minutes and after experiencing an after-life it comes back to the body. It must sound delusional but it’s true. There are many rare phenomena in this universe, which is hard to believe unless you haven’t experienced it and I can say it’s one of them, which is beyond our imagination.
However, when it comes to SDEs, a person is not physically involved in this phenomenon. SDE is an experience that happens to a bystander of the deceased. For instance, it’s like accompanying your loved one on his/her dying journey to heaven. A person who has been through an SDE feels something strange, in which he/she feels like living the dying journey of another person who is on the edge of death in front of them.
Both phenomena are hard to believe and complicated to explain, the only way to get a better understanding of them is to dive deeper into the research and find the people who have been through one of these or experience it yourself.
Case Studies
The leading research, which is going on NDEs and SDEs is known as the Shared Crossing Project, and another major ongoing research is of Dr. Raymond Moody.
Both defined NDEs and SDEs in quite a similar way. But, before moving ahead, you must be thinking if there is no scientific base to these researches, why are these two pieces of research leading? The simple reason behind this is William Peters decided to research and go into the depth of SDEs and NDEs because he has gone through both experiences and the best way to work on something or research is that when you have your own insights and experience associated with that phenomena and same is the case with Dr. Raymond Moody.
Similar sensations, visuals, and emotions
Although it has been observed that based on the nature of the experience that people undertake, SDEs are similar to NDEs in many ways, there is more to it. The aspects covered under shared death experiences include beautiful music playing in the surroundings, the death scene having a mysteriously serene beauty, a sensation on the chest pulling the individual upwards, and the geometric structure of the room shift.
Further, while these are the elements that we often see in movies and sound quite fantastical or ridiculous, these are true experiences. But, several elements are easier to believe and sound more reliable and these elements include pre-death visions, visitations, and emotional sensations that make people feel connected even from the miles of far away distance.
Dr. Christopher Kerr of The Hospice of Buffalo has researched and studied thoroughly on this concept. According to his study, 80-90% of his patients reported visitations from their deceased loved ones, who came there to comfort them and tell them that their time was near and it’s a similar case with post-death visions and visitations.
Key Differences
A person who has experienced both SDEs and NDEs can better conclude the similarities as well as differences between SDEs and NDEs and William Peters is one of those rare persons who have undergone these experiences. Based on the thorough research that William Peters has done until now, there are a few differences that have been seen between SDEs and NDEs.
The primary difference is based on the perspective because during an NDE, there are actual physical changes that occur to one’s body and mind whereas in an SDE, a person observes a dying person in front of his/her eyes and feels like living their dying journey. So, no physical changes occur to the one’s body during an SDE. You are more like a witness in SDE who is observing something from a distance whereas NDE is a phenomenon that happens to your body.
75% of people reported seeing a light during an NDE experience while in SDEs, the types of light can vary in many ways. Lights experienced in an NDE are more like an indication of an end-of-life gateway, which is not the case with SDEs.
The views on life are certainly different in both phenomena because an NDE experience occurs to you, which means you have experienced a different phase of life, in simple words, you have experienced an afterlife by yourself while in an SDE, you merely observe the other person’s dying or afterlife journey but since the entire experience isn’t about you, the perceptions are found to be different.
Listening to the experiences of both types of people can give a better understanding of the commonalities and differences between SDEs and NDEs based on their insights.
Conclusion
Since SDE and NDE both are the rarest phenomena, it is difficult to do thorough research especially, which is based on scientific analogies. However, people like Dr. Chritopher Kerr, William Peters, and Dr. Raymond Moody have been researching these phenomena for decades and most data is based on the true experiences of people around the world who have been through either of these phenomena. To be more specific, SDEs and NDEs are two different experiences, which are slightly similar in some ways but also have several key differences in various ways.
Last Updated on by Icy Tales Team