Does your whole life really flash before your eyes ?

[Annna]

Does your whole life really flash before your eyes if you have a near death experience or is it just a figure of speech?

[237SJ]

I was talking to one of my colleages one time who had a really serious car accident. The police said afterwards that they expected to find no survivors when they got to her car. She said that her life did indeed flash before her eyes. She said she couldn`t explain it but in the space of what felt like several seconds, she saw her whole life. First day at school, wedding day, everything. Maybe it happens with a sudden, traumatic death rather than a slow peaceful one.

[david21]

I read an article recently(i cant remember the paper ) that this could be the brain basically going through its files looking for a way out of a dangerous situation(surviving drowning,extreme cold etc) so if you watch a lot of ray mears you might have a better chance.

[Annna]

Yes, no real scientific or medical opinions seem available, just anecdotal evidence.

[Old_Geezer]

No experience to call on, but I'd doubt it: unless you'd convinced yourself so your mind was already set up to replay stuff when you thought it was time. After all, why would it happen ? I guess if you have time to think about it, it might be a comforting last thing for you mind to do.

[Wrongn3mber]

Doesn't the brain release the psycoactive substance dmt just before/during death which could be the reason for long dark tunnels and vivid life flashing before their eye hallucinations? There's plenty of good reads regarding this subject if you google "dmt and death" Which I'm still researching myself.

[Wrongn3mber]

This may be of interest annna.

http://www.google.co....aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=

[boxtops]

I like david21's explanation - the brain is a wonderful thing, and always looking for a way out of threatening situations.

[Quizmonster]

In a recent Armstrong & Miller Sketch, one was telling the other about how he had been in a life-threatening situation. The other asked if his whole life had flashed in front of his eyes. "Yes," he replied, "it was dead boring!"

[Annna]

I think that is a line from chicken run. x

[Arksided]

how would your 'whole' life flash before you eyes if it was only a 'near death' experience.

I do like the 'chicken run' answer, made me laugh

[modeller]

I don't believe it except that when the brain is deprived of oxygen it does hallucinate .

[Philtaz]

I don't think your whole life literally flashes before your eys but certain events within your life are remembered in a very short sequence.

It happened to me when the patrol I was in came under fire in Northern Ireland. It felt as if time literally froze as I thought: 'Did that really just happen'? I say this because you are taught certain drills to carry out in such an event but when it happens for real the realisation of it takes a nano-second or two before you realise that it IS happening and you realise that it IS a life threatening situation. I have to say hand on heart that certain events in my life DID flash before me, though they were ordinary, everyday nondescript ones.

[Annna]

Seems as if you only find out when you have a near death experience. If it does occur most people would actually die so it does not often get reported.
Still very interesting. Would love to know if any research has been done.

[RATTER15]

I have a sneaky suspicion that this is correct, I dont think its actually your life but just key points.

[Booldawg]

sometimes I can fall back asleep after the alarm goes for say, 10 minutes. In that time I can often have a dream that seems fairly lengthy in its content.

so there is a level of dis-parity between the recollection of the dream and the actual length - maybe this is similar?

[Buenchico]

I can only recall two 'near death experiences', so here are my recollections:

1. I was in my teens, on my bike, negotiating a roundabout, when I became trapped between two big lorries on either side. As we swung round the roundabout, the gap between the lorries (where I was located!) seemed to be becoming non-existent. (i.e. I fully expected the two lorries to touch each other - and I was in the middle!). I closed my eyes and thought "This is it!!!". As I did so, a few (very isolated) fragments of my past life did, indeed, flash into my mind. However I opened my eyes, only a short while later, to find that both of the lorries were ahead of me. (I quickly stopped, got off my bike, and threw up as a result of my panic).

2. About 12 years ago, I was the only passenger on a bus when it suddenly deviated off the road (because the driver had apparently fallen asleep) and crashed through the trees on the opposite side of the road. As the windscreen caved in my only thought was "Oh, bugger, I wasn't planning on dying today!". (The bus came to a halt, several hundred yards into a field, having managed to find the only gap for several miles between some very substantial trees, which would have fatally halted its progress).

So, in one situation, I had a tiny bit of the 'whole life experience' whereas, in the other, I simply felt 'p!ssed off!'.

Chris

[mike11111]

Note to self: "If Chris is on the bus, wait for the next one".

[Allovera]

LOL@ Mick11111