The estimated incidence of distressing NDEs (dNDEs) has ranged from 1% to 15% of all NDEs (
Bonenfant, 2001). The results of prospective studies in which the researchers interviewed everyone who experienced cardiac arrest in one or more hospitals during a period of at least several months are noteworthy. In the four prospective studies conducted between 1984 and 2001
1, 2, 3, 4 involving a total of 130 NDErs, none reported distressing experiences. This finding seems to confirm that the experience is relatively rare.
However,
dNDEs may occur more frequently than they are reported. One possible reason for underreporting might be repression, in which traumatic experiences are relegated to the unconscious mind. However, a cardiologist who has been present at numerous resuscitations and has been open to hearing about dNDEs, disagreed that repression could be occurring: "These experiences are so profound...that repression is hardly an option" (
Rommer, 2000, p. 25).
Other possible reasons that the dNDE may be underreported are that dNDErs avoid talking about the experience, perhaps because they:
- Hope the distressing experience will just go away,
- Want to avoid re-experiencing the distress that occurs when they talk about the experience,
- Feel ashamed for having had a distressing experience when so many other people have reported pleasurable experiences, and/or
- Are afraid that others will judge them as bad or crazy.
Although distressing NDEs appear to occur much less often than pleasurable NDEs, exactly
how frequently the distressing types occur is not yet known. Hopefully, future research will produce a clearer answer to this question.