Abstract: Kenneth Ring and Nancy Evans Bush both wrote papers concerning frightening near-death experiences (NDEs) in the Fall 1994 issue of this Journal. The results of my own research are more supportive of Bush's position than they are of Ring's. This paper gives some of the reasons why and illustrates other data accumulated by me concerning frightening NDEs.

Article presenting various interpretative frameworks for painful near-death experiences (NDEs).

Study suggesting that in order to explain the phenomenology of perinatal experience, as described in the work of Stanislav Grof, we must hypothesize that the patient in these instances has expanded beyond the individual subject.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Letter from Susan Youngdale to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic: "Frightening Near-Death Experiences."

This paper proposes that "based upon very repeatable computer simulations of dying neural networks, the phenomena of both near-death experiences (NDEs) and a virtual afterlife are plausible and can be expected to occur in traumatized neurobiological systems" (abstract). The author then speculates three societal implications based on this conclusion.

"Children who brush death, nearly die, or who are pronounced clinically dead but later revive have a much higher incidence of near-death experiences (NDEs) than do adults. Although excellent research now exists on children's cases, there have been discrepancies. I suggest that we need to broaden the range of observations on children's NDEs and reconsider what is known about children and the near-death phenomenon" (abstract).

"Comatose subjects experience pleasant unaroused affects such as tranquility, serenity, peacefulness, and relaxation, more frequently and more intensely than they experience aroused feelings or differentiated emotions. I suggest that consciousness is not disconnected by coma, but rather is potentiated following complete blockage of the brain's information channels" (abstract).

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Letter written to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies about P.M.H. Atwater devoting "an entire chapter of her book to the physiological aftereffects of near-death experiences (NDEs)" (abstract). This letter discusses healers that use lay-on-hands, as well as fraudulent healers, and how healers might be explained through science.

Letter written to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies where Richard Abanes expresses his disappointment in Mary S. Edwards' review of Raising the Dead by Robert Selzer. Abanes believes the population, as well as researchers, need to be more skeptical about near-death experiences.

This article speculates that anesthetics can influence the kind of NDE that someone has, and cause a potentially life-long negative view about life after the NDE occurs.

Abstract: I pose four questions for the "dying brain hypothesis" as propounded by Susan Blackmore in her book Dying to Live (1993). The first calls into question Blackmore's reductionist explanation of the "bird's-eye view" for a near-death experience (NDE) and asks why out-of-body perception from a supine position is not reported, given her theory. The second inquires as to how the materialist view explains NDErs' feelings of unconditional love, while the third ponders whether the variance among NDEs noted by Blackmore is not more consistent with the "afterlife hypothesis" than with the "dying brain hypothesis." The final question queries whether neural disinhibition, described by Blackmore, might be a possible release mechanism for an NDE. I suggest that these four questions pose a challenge to the "dying brain hypothesis."

Review of the book "Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones" written by scholar Raymond A. Moody, Jr. with Paul Perry.

Article reporting the preliminary finding of overwhelming psychological benefit of hypnotic recall of near-death experiences, and discussing implications for future research.

Article discussing the phylogenetic basis of states of consciousness, and presenting the central theses of monism and dualism, in which near-death experiences (NDEs) enjoy very different ontological statuses.

Article examining the events of Homer's Odyssey chronologically, identifying and analyzing specific instances where Homer's imagery suggests such a multifaceted relationship. In accounting for this relationship, the article introduces a psychospiritual evolutionary theory of symbolism and inspiration based upon the higher dimensional existence of the supernatural.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena. Table of contents for all issues in volume 14 included on page 293.

Letter John-Wren Lewis to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic "More on NDEs and Satisfaction with Life."

Letter from V. Krishnan to the editor discussing the nature of consciousness, near-death experiences, and nature of reality.

Review of the book "Near-Death Experiences in Antiquity" by poet and author Jeno Platthy.

Review of the book "To Hell and Back: Life After Death--Startling New Evidence" by cardiologist Maurice S. Rawlings regarding distressing near-death experiences.

Abstract: Recent articles have addressed the question of whether or not the out-of-body experience reported by many people near death is a form of dissociative behavior. If so, is it related to other mental or emotional pathologies or is it a normal protective response to stress? This paper explores the history of dissociation and related terms, uncovering a multiplicity of uses and connotations. New orientations in physics and the rise of the New Science in the form of Chaos Theory allow a plethora of additional interpretations.

Article reporting an experience in the course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) that was indistinguishable from a near-death experience (NDE). Aspects of the experience that had been terrifying for the individual were counterbalanced by her immediate and complete recovery from a suicidal depression. Beyond the transpersonal aspects of her NDE-like experience, the ECT triggered a precognitive vision that materialized two years later.