Near‐Death Experiences and Attempted Suicide
Suicide and Life-Threatening BehaviorPublished 1 March 1981
Bruce Greyson
Citations55
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.43
SNIP1.20
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TL;DR
Preliminary data and psychodynamic hypotheses suggest that serious suicide attempts followed by transcendental near-death experiences (NDEs) may decrease rather than increase subsequent overt suicide risk, despite the NDEs' apparent "romanticization" of death.
Abstract
Attempted suicide is correlated with an increase subsequent risk of committed suicide. However, preliminary data and psychodynamic hypotheses suggest that serious suicide attempts followed by transcendental near-death experiences (NDEs) may decrease rather than increase subsequent overt suicide risk, despite the NDEs' apparent "romanticization" of death. Studies of NDEs and of their influence on suicidal ideation are proposed which may yield greater understanding of self-destructive urges and new strategies of suicide prevention.
Keywords
Psychology
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