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A note on anesthetically-induced frightening "near-death experiences".

1996; International Association for Near-Death Studies; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.17514/jnds-1996-15-1-p17-23.

1573-3661

Kenneth Ring,

Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations

Previously (Ring, 1994a, 1994b) I had speculated that the "meaningless void" type of frightening near-death experience (NDE), in which the individual finds him-or herself in a situation of existential nullity in which life itself is understood to be an illusion or a cruel joke, indicating that nothing has any inherent meaning or reality, tends to occur following the use of anesthetics, and is more likely to be reported by women.I present here empirical evidence from medical studies of reactions to nitrous oxide, which corroborate both of those speculations.In light of these findings, I believe that this type of experience is best regarded, despite its subjective reality and long-lasting effects, as an emergence reaction triggered by drugs, and not as a true NDE.On a recent trip to Colorado, I met with a woman who, when she was 13, had a very frightening experience in connection with a routine tonsillectomy during which she had, of course, received an anesthetic.Now in her early 50s, she confessed to me that this experience had haunted her ever since, resulting, she said, in a persisting fear of death and a history of panic attacks.As a result of these concerns, she had taken the trouble to investigate some of the literature on the anesthesiology of emergence reactions, and in the course of that search had received a miscellany of articles and reprints from a specialist, James Zacny, on the effects of nitrous oxide.