Sensory and Quasi-Sensory Experiences of the Deceased in Bereavement: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Review

[The subjective experience of contact with the deceased or necrophany: a widespread and little-known phenomenon]

The subjective experience of contact with the deceased (VSCD), spontaneous and direct, by people most often in mourning, is neither rare nor new. It's even considered a universal and timeless phenomenon. Yet this psychological and sensory manifestation, which can manifest itself through sight, hearing, smell or touch, remains little known to the general public and health professionals alike. This article is an opportunity for many to discover this phenomenon, also known as necrophany.

Very Present and Very Real: A Case Study of Regularly Hearing the Voice of the Deceased Without Distress in Bereavement

Although sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED) have been the subject of much debate, research on the phenomenology of auditory verbal experiences in the bereaved has been neglected. This case study describes the phenomenology of a regularly occurring voice hearing experience and its meaning for a single bereaved individual. The voice of the deceased can be heard as though in external space, and the experience can feel real, even when the death is fully acknowledged. A bereaved individual can welcome and benefit from the experience even when it is not recognized as a normal part of grieving in the individual's cultural context, when no afterlife belief is present, and when the experience remains unexplained. The case study demonstrates that hearing the voice of the deceased can be a regular occurrence without causing distress or dysfunction and lends support to the idea that SED are a common concomitant of normal bereavement.

The impact of continuing bonds following bereavement: A systematic review

Following bereavement, continuing bonds (CBs) include engaging with memories, illusions, sensory and quasi-sensory perceptions, hallucinations, communication, actions, and belief that evoke an inner relationship with the deceased. To date, the literature has been unable to confirm whether retaining, rather than relinquishing, bonds is helpful. A mixed studies systematic literature search explored how CBs affect grief. Studies on the effect or experience of CBs on adjustment following bereavement were eligible for inclusion. Six computerized databases were searched. A total of 79 of 319 screened studies were included. Three themes were derived from the thematic analysis: (1) comfort and distress, (2) ongoing bonds and relational identity, and (3) uncertainty, conceptualizing, and spirituality. Themes describe the role of CBs for the accommodation of the death story, transformation of the relationship, meaning reconstruction, identity processes, and affirmation of spiritual belief. Results shed light on the adaptive potentials for CBs.

Varieties of felt presence? Three surveys of presence phenomena and their relations to psychopathology

BACKGROUND

Experiences of felt presence (FP) are well documented in neurology, neuropsychology and bereavement research, but systematic research in relation to psychopathology is limited. FP is a feature of sensorimotor disruption in psychosis, hypnagogic experiences, solo pursuits and spiritual encounters, but research comparing these phenomena remains rare. A comparative approach to the phenomenology of FP has the potential to identify shared and unique processes underlying the experience across these contexts, with implications for clinical understanding and intervention.

METHODS

We present a mixed-methods analysis from three online surveys comparing FP across three diverse contexts: a population sample which included people with experience of psychosis and voice-hearing (study 1, N = 75), people with spiritual and spiritualist beliefs (study 2, N = 47) and practitioners of endurance/solo pursuits (study 3, N = 84). Participants were asked to provide descriptions of their FP experiences and completed questionnaires on FP frequency, hallucinatory experiences, dissociation, paranoia, social inner speech and sleep. Data and code for the study are available via OSF.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear regression analysis indicated that FP frequency was predicted by a general tendency to experience hallucinations in all three studies, although paranoia and gender (female > male) were also significant predictors in sample 1. Qualitative analysis highlighted shared and diverging phenomenology of FP experiences across the three studies, including a role for immersive states in FP.

CONCLUSIONS

These data combine to provide the first picture of the potential shared mechanisms underlying different accounts of FP, supporting a unitary model of the experience.

Life in armed conflict: A phenomenological approach to examine the bereavement experiences of parents living in Indian-administered Kashmir

Research on the experiences of parents who have lost a child to armed conflict is limited. The current study aimed to explore the bereaved experiences of those parents. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to explore the experiences of 15 participants. The analysis resulted in two broad themes followed by subthemes-The theme Traumatic Grief comprised three subthemes: feeling that life is empty; hearing, seeing, and sensing the presence of dead; and unfair to be alive. The theme Meaning making Coping Methods comprised two subthemes: social support as meaning making, and religious coping as meaning making. These findings, based on the phenomenological approach, help to better understand the bereaved experiences of the parents affected by armed conflict.

The felt-presence experience: from cognition to the clinic

The felt presence experience is the basic feeling that someone else is present in the immediate environment, without clear sensory evidence. Ranging from benevolent to distressing, personified to ambiguous, felt presence has been observed in neurological case studies and within psychosis and paranoia, associated with sleep paralysis and anxiety, and recorded within endurance sports and spiritualist communities. In this Review, we summarise the philosophical, phenomenological, clinical, and non-clinical correlates of felt presence, as well as current approaches that use psychometric, cognitive, and neurophysiological methods. We present current mechanistic explanations for felt presence, suggest a unifying cognitive framework for the phenomenon, and discuss outstanding questions for the field. Felt presence offers a sublime opportunity to understand the cognitive neuroscience of own-body awareness and social agency detection, as an intuitive, but poorly understood, experience in health and disorder.

Social Deafferentation and the Relation Between Loneliness and Hallucinations

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS

The social deafferentation hypothesis (SDA) has been proposed as an explanatory mechanism of hallucinations, based on the theory that social withdrawal triggers the initial phase of schizophrenia. The current study tests the SDA by assessing how loneliness is associated with different types of hallucinations. Under the SDA, increased loneliness is hypothesized to affect the occurrence of hallucinations that carry social meaning, but not of nonsocial hallucinations.

STUDY DESIGN

As part of an online survey, 2038 adolescents and young adults from the general population (median age 21 years; 75% female) filled out the Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences, and the shortened De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Binomial logistic regression was used to investigate the effects of loneliness severity on past month prevalence of hallucinations, and on the presence of social versus nonsocial hallucinations.

STUDY RESULTS

Loneliness increased the prevalence of hallucinations across modalities in the past month. Moreover, stronger degree of loneliness increased the likelihood of hearing voices or laughter, and of hallucinating being touched. Conversely, loneliness decreased the likelihood of experiencing the nonsocial hallucination of a tingling feeling. As expected, loneliness did not increase the prevalence of experiencing nonsocial hallucinations. Surprisingly, neither was loneliness associated with experiencing felt presence.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results are novel in showing that loneliness specifically increases the likelihood of hearing human sounds such as voices or laughter, or feeling a human touch. Hallucinations without social meaning were not more likely to be experienced with increasing loneliness. This forms a confirmation of the SDA.

Human interaction with the divine, the sacred, and the deceased: topics that warrant increased attention by psychologists

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus many rituals and activities around prayer to an entity deemed divine or sacred. Additionally, many people–religious, agnostic, and atheists alike–report communication with their departed loved ones. During highly stressful times associated with natural disasters, war, pandemics, and other threats to human life, the frequency and intensity of these activities and associated experiences substantially increase. Although this very human phenomenon seems to be universal, the empirical literature on the topic within psychology is thin. This paper discussed the topic and reviews what we know from the professional literature about how people perceive communication with these unseen entities. It highlights the perceptual and social cognition evidence and discussed the role of attribution theory, which might help us understand the beliefs, motivations, and practices of those engaged with communication with the unseen. Empirical laboratory research with mediums is discussed as well, examining the evidence for communication with the deceased. Final reflections and suggestions for future research are also offered.

Shared Death Experiences: A Multicultural Survey

BACKGROUND

Shared-death-experiences (SDEs) and after-death-communication-experiences (ADCEs) are non-ordinary mental experiences related to the death of a known or unknown person.

METHODS

These experiences were investigated by surveying four samples with different cultural backgrounds: Italian, Mexican, Brazilian and Taiwanese people. One-hundred-twenty-one participants reported 146 experiences of this type.

RESULTS

Among the main characteristics of these experiences, visual, visual-auditory and feeling experiences, which comprised 74% of all experiences, were experienced both in the dream state and a normal state of consciousness. Furthermore, most of these experiences were lived before (47.3%) or after (39%) the death of the person in relationship with the participants. More importantly, these experiences influenced the participants' death interpretation favoring the belief that death affects only the body, but the consciousness of the deceased persons survives in another reality and sometimes can communicate with relatives and friends still alive in this reality. No substantial differences were observed among the different subsamples.

CONCLUSION

As to the origin of SDEs/ADCEs, we discuss that whereas for most of them, in particular those lived after the death of a relative or a friend, we can assume hallucinatory characteristics triggered by emotional needs, for others, for example those related to unknown individuals and/or those experienced before the death of the person still in good health, it is not possible to exclude their anomalous connections and a real encounter with a deceased person.

Are Sensory Experiences of One's Deceased Spouse Associated with Bereavement-Related Distress?

Following late-life spousal bereavement, sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED) are commonly reported. This longitudinal study examined SED among 310 older widowed adults 6-10 (T1) and 18-20 (T2) months post loss. Reports of SED in the first 6-10 months after loss were associated with higher symptom levels of prolonged grief, post-traumatic stress, and loneliness at T1. Experiencers of SED were more likely to experience symptoms of prolonged grief and post-traumatic stress above cut-off scores at T1. Importantly, only a minority of the experiencers of SED displayed these elevated levels of bereavement-related distress. In addition, employing multi-level-modeling, a similar trajectory of decreasing bereavement-related distress over time was found for both experiencers and non-experiencers of SED. We argue that SED may be one of several potential reactions to bereavement, which should not be seen as an indicator of grief complications per se.

How we continue bonds with deceased persons: The proximity-seeking behavior scale

Continuing bonds is a multifaceted process, encompassing perceptions, beliefs, illusions and hallucinations, and overt behaviors. We developed the Proximity-Seeking Behavior Scale (PSBS) to assess overt behavior to continue bonds with the deceased person. We had 694 bereaved adults complete an online survey. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded a one-factor model for PSBS items. PSBS reliability was good. PSBS scores correlated positively with rumination and yearning, feeling connected to the deceased person, and prolonged grief and depression symptoms. The PSBS appears a reliable and valid instrument to assess proximity-seeking behaviors.

When the Truth Is Out There: Counseling People Who Report Anomalous Experiences

In this paper, we propose a clinical approach to the counseling of distressing subjective paranormal experiences, usually referred to as anomalous or exceptional experiences in the academic field. These experiences are reported by a large part of the population, yet most mental health practitioners have not received a specific training in listening constructively to these experiences. This seems all the more problematic since nearly one person in two find it difficult to integrate such experiences, which can be associated with different forms of psychological suffering. After having described briefly several clinical approaches already developed in this area, we outline the main aspects of clinical practice with people reporting exceptional experiences, in particular the characteristics of the clinician's attitude toward the narrative of unusual events. We then present the core components of a Psychodynamic Psychotherapy focused on Anomalous Experiences (PPAE) based on three main steps: phenomenological exploration, subjective inscription and subjective integration of the anomalous experience. Such an approach, based on a non-judgmental and open listening, favors the transformation of the ontological shock that often follows the anomalous experiences into a potential source of integration and psychological transformation.

Sensory experiences of one's deceased spouse in older adults: An analysis of predisposing factors

Objectives This study focuses on pre-disposing factors associated with sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), also called bereavement hallucinations. Even though SED are common among older widowed adults, our knowledge of these experiences is still limited.Method Survey responses were obtained from 310 older widowed participants (M = 70.05 ± 8.39), complemented with data from Danish national registers.Results Hierarchical logistic regression analysis revealed four significant pre-disposing factors: prior experiences of SED in the context of previous significant bereavements (OR = 4.72), a history of interpersonal trauma (OR = 5.8), high pre-death relationship closeness (OR = 2.76) and stronger religious/spiritual worldview (OR = 1.12). No association to registered mental health diagnosis was identified.Conclusion: SED may be considered an interpersonal experience, which may be more likely to occur if the pre-death relationship is described as very close and if the bereaved has previously experienced interpersonal trauma. We argue that SED should not necessarily be considered an indication of neurodegenerative or psychiatric diseases.

The phenomenology and impact of hallucinations concerning the deceased

Background

People who have suffered the loss of a loved one may subsequently report sensory experiences of the deceased (termed ‘after-death communications’, or ADCs). Such encounters are common and can be a source of comfort to the bereaved. Nevertheless, there has been limited empirical investigation of this phenomenon, and consequently mental health professionals feel ill-equipped to support those who disclose them.

Aims

To map the phenomenology of ADCs, and identify covariates and effects upon the recipient.

Method

We conducted an online mixed-methods survey comprising 194 items about all aspects of ADCs. A purposive sample of 1004 respondents across three language groups (English, French and Spanish) completed the survey.

Results

The most common form of ADC was during sleep, but large numbers of cases involved sensory modalities of touch, sight, hearing, smell and sense of presence that externalised the phenomenon for the recipient. Variations in incidence with participant gender and language group suggest a psychosocial component. ADCs were typically regarded by the participant as deeply meaningful and comforting. Respondents reported significant increases in their sense of spirituality, but not religiosity.

Conclusions

ADCs are a common feature of bereavement that occur unexpectedly, and are independent of any underlying pathology or psychological need. For the person experiencing the hallucination, they are important and meaningful events that they interpret in terms of continuing bonds with the deceased. This adaptive outcome may be stymied where mental health professionals trivialise or pathologise disclosures about ADCs.

Prevalence and Phenomenology of Sensory Experiences of a Deceased Spouse: A Survey of Bereaved Older Adults

Sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), also called bereavement hallucinations, are common in bereavement, but research detailing these experiences is limited. Methods: An in-depth survey of SED was developed based on existing research, and 310 older adults from the general Danish population participated in the study 6-10 months after their spouse died. Results: SED were reported by 42% of the participants with wide-ranging phenomenological features across sensory-modalities. In particular, seeing and hearing the deceased spouse was experienced as very similar to the couple's everyday contacts before death. SED were endorsed as positive by a majority of experiencers, and the experiences were often shared with family and friends. Discussion: SED are conceptualized as social and relational phenomena, which may comfort the surviving spouse in late-life bereavement, but also provide tangible help to some experiencers. In clinical practice, SED may be considered a potential resource for the therapeutic grief process.

Perceptual phenomena associated with spontaneous experiences of after-death communication: Analysis of visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory sensations

The purpose of this study was to create a detailed characterization of the nature of the sensory perceptions associated with after-death communication. A primary aim was to determine if perceptions of after-death communication (ADC) support one or more of three hypotheses: (1) they are the result of hallucinations or day-to-day thoughts about the deceased; (2) they are subjective phenomena reflecting the extrasensory perception of remote events; or (3) they constitute objective phenomena, perceived more solidly, as if within the physical world. Methods: The study included a quantitative analysis and qualitative first-person narrative description of part of the data set from a detailed questionnaire study (991 viable cases) investigating the phenomenology of spontaneous ADCs. Results and Conclusions: A majority of respondents reported that ADCs were distinctly different from simple thoughts about the deceased. Specifically, relative distribution of ADCs across the senses was 46% visual, 44% auditory, 48% touch, and 28% olfactory, with 34% sensing the presence of the deceased without input from the five senses. ADCs often were perceived as external and having properties of the material world (e.g., solidity, tactile qualities). Even the more nebulous 'sense of presence' cases were perceived as having a distinct location in space and as being identifiable as a specific deceased presence despite the lack of sensory cues. These elements are more compatible with hypotheses 2 and 3 than hypothesis 1.