This page contains 834 near-death experiences (NDEs) and their responses to a series of NDERF survey questions “The following questions are about changes in your life that might have occurred after your experience.” For each concept, near-death experiencers (NDErs) were asked to select the best response expressing their beliefs before their NDEs, and at the time they shared their NDEs with NDERF.

Menu (See below tables):

Existence of God
Existence of an Afterlife
Fear of death
Meaning and significance of our earthly lives
Compassion toward others
Fear in living earthly life
Importance of religious/spiritual life


Methodology:

Experiences were scored as near-death experiences (NDEs) if they met all of the following:

1. A lucid, organized experience occurring at the time of a life-threatening event so severe that there is unconsciousness or clinically apparent death with an absent heartbeat.

2. An NDE Scale score of 7 or higher.

3. Shared by the individual who personally had the NDE.

4. Shared in English via the completed survey form on nderf.org.

These are NDEs from the most recent version of the NDERF survey (nderf.org). They are sequentially shared NDEs from November 11, 2011 to April 8, 2021. All accounts were scored as NDEs if they met the above criteria and regardless of experience content to avoid bias in studying the content of the NDEs.

The NDEs posted on the NDERF website are edited to correct obvious spelling and grammar errors. As remarkable as the NDEs are in this list, please remember that they accurately represent the real experiences of near-death experiencers (NDErs) from all walks of life and around the world.

We strive to make a larger collection of NDEs that include creative expressions of NDE aftereffects. We would be delighted to collaborate in this endeavor with anyone with other credible internet sources of NDErs discussing NDE aftereffects.

This list is public domain and may be used by anyone.

Substantial efforts are made to minimize the risk of posting fraudulent NDE accounts on nderf.org: See a more detailed explanation.



Even a brief review of the survey responses below shows that NDErs often have dramatic changes in their beliefs following their NDEs. This is strong evidence that NDErs accept their experiences as real, and make significant changes in their beliefs. We are not aware of any other single life event associated with such substantial changes in beliefs.

Existence of God:
Before my experience I believed:						At the current time I believe:
	God definitely exists						God definitely exists
		311	37.3	%				598	71.7	%
	God probably exists						God probably exists
		193	23.1	%				69	8.3	%
	I was uncertain if God exists						I am uncertain if God exists
		162	19.4	%				61	7.3	%
	God probably does not exist						God probably does not exist
		44	5.3	%				20	2.4	%
	God does not exist						God does not exist
		44	5.3	%				31	3.7	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		80	9.6	%				55	6.6	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Existence of an Afterlife: :
Before my experience I believed:						At the current time I believe:
	An afterlife definitely exists						An afterlife definitely exists
		204	24.5	%				703	84.3	%
	An afterlife probably exists						An afterlife probably exists
		208	24.9	%				62	7.4	%
	I was uncertain if an afterlife exists						I am uncertain if an afterlife exists
		234	28.1	%				45	5.4	%
	An afterlife probably does not exist						An afterlife probably does not exist
		45	5.4	%				4	0.5	%
	An afterlife does not exist						An afterlife does not exist
		48	5.8	%				3	0.4	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		95	11.4	%				17	2	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Fear of death:
Before my experience:						At the current time:
	I greatly feared death						I greatly fear death
		271	32.5	%				23	2.8	%
	I moderately feared death						I moderately fear death
		248	29.7	%				55	6.6	%
	I slightly feared death						I slightly fear death
		124	14.9	%				100	12	%
	I did not fear death						I do not fear death
		109	13.1	%				641	76.9	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		82	9.8	%				15	1.8	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Meaning and significance of our earthly lives:
Before my experience I believed our earthly lives:						At the current time I believe our earthly lives:
	Are meaningful and significant						Are meaningful and significant
		224	26.9	%				651	78.1	%
	Are probably meaningful and significant						Are probably meaningful and significant
		166	19.9	%				64	7.7	%
	Are possibly meaningful and significant						Are possibly meaningful and significant
		205	24.6	%				68	8.2	%
	Are not meaningful and significant						Are not meaningful and significant
		109	13.1	%				33	4	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		130	15.6	%				18	2.2	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Compassion toward others:
Before my experience I was:						At the current time I am:
	Greatly compassionate toward others						Greatly compassionate toward others
		210	25.2	%				647	77.6	%
	Moderately compassionate toward others						Moderately compassionate toward others
		339	40.6	%				156	18.7	%
	Slightly compassionate toward others						Slightly compassionate toward others
		168	20.1	%				13	1.6	%
	Not compassionate toward others						Not compassionate toward others
		58	7	%				5	0.6	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		59	7.1	%				13	1.6	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Fear in living earthly life:
Before my experience I was:						At the current time I am:
	Greatly fearful in living my earthly life						Greatly fearful in living my earthly life
		144	17.3	%				37	4.4	%
	Moderately fearful in living my earthly life						Moderately fearful in living my earthly life
		179	21.5	%				79	9.5	%
	Slightly fearful in living my earthly life						Slightly fearful in living my earthly life
		168	20.1	%				156	18.7	%
	Not fearful in living my earthly life						Not fearful in living my earthly life
		271	32.5	%				540	64.7	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		72	8.6	%				22	2.6	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834

Importance of religious/spiritual life:
Before my experience, my religious/spiritual life was:						At the current time, my religious/spiritual life is:
	I greatly feared death						I greatly fear death
		148	17.7	%				573	68.7	%
	I moderately feared death						I moderately fear death
		186	22.3	%				132	15.8	%
	I slightly feared death						I slightly fear death
		210	25.2	%				45	5.4	%
	I did not fear death						I do not fear death
		234	28.1	%				65	7.8	%
	Unknown						Unknown
		56	6.7	%				19	2.3	%
	Total:	834					Total:	834