Auditory Hallucinations Following Near-Death Experiences
Abstract
Among persons who reported having had near-death experiences, 80% also reported subsequent auditory hallucinations. Experiencers’ attitudes toward these hallucinations were over-whelmingly positive, as contrasted with the overwhelmingly negative attitudes of patients with schizophrenia toward their auditory hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations not related to disease processes are common and may be highly valued by those who hear them.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
People who hear voices may report a lack of understanding by friends, families, and professionals, and many hide these experiences because of fear of social judgment and stigma.
“People who hear voices may report a lack of understanding by friends, families and even professionals and, as a result, many people hide these experiences, because of the fear of social judgment and stigma [65, 66].”
From The “common” experience of voice-hearing and its relationship with shame and guilt: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [66]
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Williams, J. B. W., & First, M. B. (2013) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.104 · Cited by 109,841 · see citing works
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/springerreference_121117 · Cited by 20,769 · see citing works
Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development
Galton, F. (1883) · MacMillan Co eBooks · doi:10.1037/14178-000 · Cited by 1,851 · see citing works
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology
(1977) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/002216787701700308 · Cited by 1,740 · see citing works
Inquiries into human faculty and its development.
Galton, F. (1919) · Dent eBooks · doi:10.1037/10913-000 · Cited by 1,404 · see citing works
Chadwick, P., & Birchwood, M. J. (1994) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.164.2.190 · Cited by 807 · see citing works
Distribution of hallucinations in the population
Tien, A. Y. (1991) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/bf00789221 · Cited by 527 · see citing works
The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, Reliability, and Validity
GREYSON, B. (1983) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/00005053-198306000-00007 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
Self-citationRomme, M. A. J., & Escher, A. D. M. A. C. (1989) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/15.2.209 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Auditory Hallucinations of Hearing Voices in 375 Normal Subjects
Posey, T. B., & Losch, M. E. (1983) · Imagination Cognition and Personality · doi:10.2190/74v5-hnxn-jey5-dg7w · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Reliability of a scale measuring disposition towards hallucination: a brief report
Bentall, R. P., & Slade, P. D. (1985) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(85)90151-5 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Grimby, A. (1993) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1993.tb03332.x · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Dissociation in people who have near-death experiences: out of their bodies or out of their minds?
Greyson, B. (2000) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)82013-9 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Self-citationAttitude Change Following Near-Death Experiences
Noyes, R. (1980) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00332747.1980.11024070 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Verbal hallucinations in normals, I: People who hear ‘voices’
Barrett, T. R., & Etheridge, J. B. (1992) · Applied Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1002/acp.2350060503 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
A Community Mail Survey of Psychic Experiences
Palmer, J. A. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315247366-1 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Origin and Mechanisms of Hallucinations
KEUP, W. (1970) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-8645-6 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Patients' attitudes toward hallucinations
Miller, L. J., O'Connor, E., & DiPasquale, T. (1993) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.150.4.584 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research
MYERS, F. W. H. (1888) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.ns-12.292.118 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
The Phenomenology of Hallucinations as an Aid to Differential Diagnosis
Lowe, G. R. (1973) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.123.6.621 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Review of Report on the Census of Hallucinations.
James, W. (1895) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0068910 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
The Near-Death Experience as a Focus of Clinical Attention
Greyson, B. (1997) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/00005053-199705000-00007 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Self-citationWilking, V. N., & Paoli, C. (1966) · Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0002-7138(09)62091-4 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Olson, P. R., Suddeth, J. A., Peterson, P. J., & Egelhoff, C. (1985) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1985.tb04619.x · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Near-death experiences and personal values
(1983) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.140.5.618 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Posttraumatic stress symptoms following near-death experiences.
Greyson, B. (2001) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/0002-9432.71.3.368 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationNear-death encounters with and without near-death experiences: Comparative NDE scale profiles
Greyson, B. (1990) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.1007/bf01074000 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationAltered Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors Following Near-Death Experiences
Groth‐Marnat, G., & Summers, R. (1998) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/00221678980383005 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
McKellar, P. (1963) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 56 · see citing works
The Ultimate Values of the American Population.
Schuman, H., McCready, W. C., & Greeley, A. M. (1978) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2064379 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Disposition towards hallucination, gender and EPQ scores: a brief report
Young, H. F., Bentall, R. P., Slade, P. D., & Dewey, M. E. (1986) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(86)90065-6 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Wren-Lewis, J. (1988) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167888282011 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Do we need a new word to supplement "hallucination"?
Stevenson, I. (1983) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.140.12.1609 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Sclare, A. B. (1979) · Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp.42.1.95-a · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Medieval visions and contemporary hallucinations
Kroll, J., & Bachrach, B. S. (1982) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700049023 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Johnson, F. H. (1978) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Near-death experiences and the physio-kundalini syndrome
Greyson, B. (1993) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/bf00990954 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationBiological Aspects of Near-Death Experiences
Greyson, B. (1998) · Perspectives in biology and medicine · doi:10.1353/pbm.1998.0039 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationHallucination and Trance: An Anthropologist’s Perspective
Bourguignon, E. E. (1970) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-8645-6_17 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
The epidemiology and differential diagnosis of near-death experience.
Bates, B., & Stanley, A. J. (1985) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1985.tb02704.x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Maudsley, H. (2011) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511974687.006 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Benign Auditory and Visual Hallucinations
Forrer, G. R. (1960) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1960.01710010097012 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Morse, M. L., & Perry, P. J. (1993) · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Inner voices: Distinguishing transcendent and pathological characteristics.
Liester, M. B. (1996) · The Journal of transpersonal psychology · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Self-citationGreyson, B. (1991) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.1007/bf01074180 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citation(1893) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.1.1682.651 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Bentall, R. P. (2004) · Varieties of anomalous experience: Examining the scientific evidence. · doi:10.1037/10371-003 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
The Ultimate Values of the American Population.
Hoge, D. R., McCready, W. C., & Greeley, A. M. (1977) · Social Forces · doi:10.2307/2577494 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
SCHIZOPHRENIC TRAITS IN THE FUNCTIONAL PSYCHOSES AND IN NORMAL INDIVIDUALS
Page, J. D., Landis, C., & Katz, S. E. (1934) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.90.6.1213 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Stevenson, I. (1969) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Wilson, J. (1970) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1970.01740250090014 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Prediction and Measurement of Perceptual-Behavioral Change in Drug-Induced Hallucinations
Fischer, R. (1970) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-8645-6_27 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Groth‐Marnat, G. (1989) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167889291008 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The Near-Death Experience as an Event in Consciousness
Quimby, S. L. (1989) · Journal of Humanistic Psychology · doi:10.1177/0022167889291007 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Rw, M. (1958) · PubMed · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Parapsychotic grief, theory of mind and the concept of the soul
Corrigan, F. M. (1997) · Medical Hypotheses · doi:10.1016/s0306-9877(97)90194-8 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
On a New Method of Closing Bleeding Blood-Vessels by Moveable Forceps
Brown, A. (1867) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.356.376-a · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Nolan, M. J. (1928) · Journal of Mental Science · doi:10.1192/bjp.74.304.49 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
4 of the 62 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness
Martial, C., Cassol, H., Laureys, S., & Gosseries, O. (2020) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2019.12.010 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
“Greyson and Liester [103] observed that 80% of experiencers report occasional auditory hallucinations after having experienced a NDE, and these experiencers are the ones with more elaborated NDEs (i.e., scoring higher on the Greyson NDE scale [11]).”
BackgroundExperiências de quase-morte: implicações clínicas
Greyson, B. (2007) · Archives of Clinical Psychiatry (São Paulo) · doi:10.1590/s0101-60832007000700015 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationKellehear, A. (2016) · BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care · doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2015-001083 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Volpato, E., Cavalera, C., Castelnuovo, G., Molinari, E., & Pagnini, F. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03902-6 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“People who hear voices may report a lack of understanding by friends, families and even professionals and, as a result, many people hide these experiences, because of the fear of social judgment and stigma [65, 66].”
BackgroundNeglected near-death phenomena.
Alvarado, C. S. (2006) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.17514/jnds-2006-24-3-p131-151 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Personality traits and pattern of beliefs of near-death(-like) experiencers
Bicego, A., Cassol, H., Simon, J., Fritz, P., Abagnale, S., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Laureys, S., & Martial, C. (2023) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2023.1124739 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Differentiating spiritual and psychotic experiences: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Greyson, B. (2014) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.17514/jnds-2014-32-3-p123-136 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationElbers, N. A., Geraerts, E., & van Heerden, J. (2007) · Theory & Psychology · doi:10.1177/0959354307079305 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Another example is the positive hallucinations in a near-death experience (Greyson & Liester, 2004).”
BackgroundNear-death experiences and psychotherapy.
Griffith, L. J. (2009) · PubMed Central · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Near‐Death Experiences and Transpersonal Psychology: Focus on Helping Near‐Death Experiencers
Fracasso, C. L., Greyson, B., & Friedman, H. L. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118591277.ch20 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationExperiencias cercanas a la muerte. Revisión.
Bonilla, E. (2011) · Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Tassell-Matamua, N., & Holden, J. M. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-817204-9.00005-6 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Curtis, L. (2012) · SOPHIA (St. Catherine University) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Did Emanuel Swedenborg have near-death experiences? Envisioning a developmental account of NDEs.
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2009) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.17514/jnds-2009-27-3-p157-187 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Нуркова, В. В. (2011) · Психологические исследования · doi:10.54359/ps.v4i18.835 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Development of the Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Near-death Experiences Scale
Pace, L. D. (2013) · doi:10.12794/metadc500204 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Experiências de quase-morte: implicações clínicas Near-death experience: clinical implications
Greyson, B. (2007)
Self-citationLoseu, S., & Holden, J. M. (2017) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.17514/jnds-2017-36-1-p3-26
“When NDErs face a positive and supportive attitude during their disclosures, they internalize and integrate their NDEs more positively than when they face rejection (Greyson & Liester, 2004).”
Two cases of spontaneous mediumship experiences of near-death experiencers.
Foster, R. D., Lee, D., & Duvall, A. G. (2015) · The Journal of near-death studies · doi:10.17514/jnds-2015-34-1-p44-56
“Although it is unclear if SMErs were included in their sample, Greyson and Liester (2004), in their comparison of auditory hallucinations in non- NDErs and NDErs, noted that their results did not support psychopathology in their sample of NDErs— nor did we observe it in either SMEr, although…”
BackgroundLes expériences de mort imminente : une hiérophanie des temps modernes
Berghmans, C. (2023) · Frontières · doi:10.7202/1112444ar
Near‐Death Experiences and Transpersonal Psychology
Pehlivanova, M., Fracasso, C. L., Greyson, B., & Friedman, H. L. (2026) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781394215683.ch21
Self-citation
- Authors
- Greyson, B., & Liester, M. B.
- Venue
- Journal of Humanistic Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2004-07
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 320-336
- ISSN
- 0022-1678 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-650X
- OpenAlex
- W2001730510
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Humanistic Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychedelics and Drug Studies
- Keywords
- auditory hallucinations, near-death experiences, schizophrenia
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review