The psychodynamics of near-death experiences.

Near-death experiences (NDEs), profound transcendental events experienced on the threshold of death, may be interpreted on several levels from the neurophysiological to the eschatological. Independent of other levels of interpretation, a psychological analysis of NDEs produces meaningful and researchable psychodynamic precipitants and sequelae. A number of psychological mechanisms are discussed, which overdetermine the prototypical NDE, and objections to psychological interpretations of the phenomenon are considered. Further exploration of the psychological aspects of NDEs may yield clinically useful techniques in suicide prevention and in the treatment of terminal and bereaved patients.