Disclosing near-death experiences to professional healthcare providers and nonprofessionals.

Researchers examined 88 near-death experiencers’ (NDErs’) perceptions of 188 of their most noteworthy experiences disclosing their near-death experiences (NDEs) to professional healthcare providers—medical, mental, social, and spiritual/religious. Participants scored 7 or higher on the NDE Scale and were 72% female and 28% male; aged 21 to 81 years, mean age 56; 89% Caucasian, 3% Native American, 1% Black, 1% Hispanic, and 6% mixed or other; and 18% Protestant, 6% Roman Catholic, 2% Jewish, 1% Buddhist, 51% spiritual–not religious, and 21% no or other religious or spiritual affiliation. The Near-Death Experiencers’ Experiences of Disclosure Scale (NEEDS) was developed to assess the extent that an NDEr perceived a confidante to have recognized their NDE and considered it at least potentially real and to have avoided pathologizing or demonizing the NDE or NDEr; the NEEDS proved valid and reliable. Results indicated that 19% of NDErs reported negative responses from all types of healthcare providers with no significant difference between professional groups, with no effect, F(3, 184) .67, p .57, p .01 and no significant difference by year of NDE, with small effect (1934 –2010), R .01, F(1, 186) .02. Participants reported significantly more negative experiences of disclosure the sooner they disclosed, with a small effect, B .26, t 3.59, p .01, and the deeper their NDE, with a small effect (r .21, p .01). The researchers concluded that, to do no harm, all healthcare providers need to be better educated about NDEs.