Arguments that deathbed phenomena are not hallucinations caused by a dying brain ask the following questions:
- If deathbed visions are the result of a dying brain, oxygen deprivation, neurosis or chemical imbalances, why are most of the visions of past deceased persons?
- If we ourselves were dying, why would long-dead family members be at the forefront of our minds? Logically, we could expect our thoughts to turn automatically to the living we were going to leave behind.
- Why are the themes of these visions so similar among the dying? If the by products of the dying brain were arbitrarily firing, then chaotic visions would result.
In this presentation given at Stockholm University, psychiatrist Dr Peter Fenwick discusses these ideas further:
Palliative care workers also state that there is a real difference between deathbed visions and drug-induced hallucinations. Typical drug or fever-induced hallucinations described by hospice carers included patients seeing animals walking around the floor, devils or dragons dancing in the light or insects moving on wallpaper or on the carpet. The patients also seem to be aware that the drug-induced hallucinations are not real. Drug-induced hallucinations are also reversible as they can be controlled by changing the drug the patient is taking.
The interim study of deathbed phenomena by Brayne, Lovelace, and Fenwick at Gloucestershire Nursing Home also concluded that deathbed visions differed from hallucinations via the responses they invoked: inner peace and death acceptance.
References:
A full list of references is available in the Reference Material section.
- Brayne S, Lovelace H, Fenwick P. (2008) End-of life experiences and the dying process in a Gloucestershire nursing home as reported by nurses and care assistants. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 25(3).
- Fenwick, P. and Fenwick E. (2008) The Art of Dying – A Journey to Elsewhere. London: Continuum.
- Mazzarino-Willet, A. (2010). Deathbed Phenomena: Its Role in Peaceful Death and Terminal Restlessness. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine 27(2).
- Wills-Brandon, C. (2000) One Last Hug Before I Go – The Mystery and Meaning of Deathbed Visions. Florida: Health Communications, Inc.
