Grey: Return from Death
Margot Grey: Return from Death: An Exploration of the Near-Death Experience. London: Arkana, 1985. xvi + 206 pp. £4.95, paper. ISBN: 1850630194
Book Review – Carlos S. Alvarado
(From Journal of Parapsychology, 1987;51:176-180, reproduced with permission)
In Return from Death, Margot Grey, a psychologist of humanistic orientation who practices psychotherapy in London, presents a report of her research into near-death experiences (NDEs) and a discussion of their significance. The book is divided in two parts. In Part 1, Grey discusses NDE phenomenology; in Part 2, she discusses after-effects of the experience.
The first two chapters review some of the literature on the topic, though the discussion is deficient from the historical and research points of view. For example, many developments relevant to NDEs occurred before Kübler-Ross's interest in the subject in the 1970s, making it incorrect to state that "attention was first drawn" (p. 12) to the experience by her work (Audette, 1982, discusses some precedents).
Grey is of the opinion that enough descriptive data on NDEs has been gathered to justify the statement that: "What now seems evident is that new directions in research and application related to the aftereffects need to be embarked upon" (p. 21). I agree that this is an important area of research, but I think more basic research should be conducted to make sense of the apparent transformation value of the experience. Examples of important areas for further research are the types of medical crises experienced and the psychological characteristics of ND experients. Grey provides another example when she attempts to study the NDE from a cross-cultural perspective.
Part of Grey's projects included a study of NDE phenomenology. She personally interviewed 41 persons (61% female, 93% white, 63% married) following a modified version of Ring's interview schedule (Ring, 1980, see pp. 196-198). She did this with the intention of comparing the results with those of Ring and with her own interviews of ND experients previously conducted in the United States. As she writes:
“The main focus of the research... was based on an examination of the cross-cultural aspects. During this period I conducted interviews on both sides of the Atlantic in order to ascertain if a corresponding proportion of respondents would relate similar near-death type experiences in England as those which had been reported in America, regardless of the differing cultural environments” (p. 21)
This "cross-cultural" study leaves much to be desired. It presents no systematic account of the characteristics of the American experiencers, which would have allowed the reader to compare, for example, the incidence of specific features in both samples. Grey presents only statements such as: "The almost identical accounts of both English and American NDErs" (p. 33), and "the tunnel experience is inclined to be encountered slightly more frequently by American NDErs, while the accounts of British NDErs... suggest that they are more likely to move straight from the out-of-body stage [to further stages]" (p. 43). Additionally, it may be questioned whether American and British samples are the best cultures to test for possible cultural differences since they have so many points in common. It may be better, whenever possible, to contrast more widely different cultures such as those in Osis and Haraldsson's (1977) comparison of American and Indian deathbed vision cases.
The report is also unclear regarding reports of the characteristics of NDEs in the British sample. The actual incidence of features following Ring's NDE phases – peace and a sense of well-being, separation from the body, entering the darkness, seeing the light, entering the light – is not presented, although the incidence of diverse aspects inside each phase appears in a table on page 31. A reference to ESP may be found on pages 40 to 41, but no details regarding number of cases or the way the experience was verified (if any) are discussed.
Grey presents an interesting discussion of "negative" NDEs. As she writes: "Despite the fact that my sample is small, only representing an eighth [5] of all respondents [in the study], I feel that I have discovered enough examples to have been able to establish, at the very least, that certain elements exist and are common to this phase of the experience" (p. 59). The phases of this type of NDEs are said to be: (1) fear and a feeling of panic; (2) OBEs; (3) entering a black void; (4) sensing an evil force; and (5) entering a hell-like environment. This is interesting and valuable preliminary work, but I cannot agree with Grey that five NDEs are enough to "establish" anything.
Regarding the after-effects of NDEs, Grey recognizes that "the number of non-experiences... was too small" (p. 95) to do any meaningful comparison, and she describes some changes claimed by the experients. After-effects are described as being related to life (e.g., love, knowledge), and to conceptual changes (e.g., attitudes to death and religion). Sixty-three percent of Grey's sample had a decrease in fear of death after the NDE, and 76% had an increase in belief in a life after death. The overall results are consistent with those of other studies that have reported apparent changes at conceptual and behavioral levels.
Grey also affirms that "one of the consequences of the NDE is that it often has the effect of making available to the recipient certain inexplicable talents, such as those of apparent extra-sensory perception and healing" (pp. 113-114) that the person did not have before the NDE occurred. Although interesting, most of these claims are not impressive because they have not been investigated in detail. This is the case when ND experients claim to have been healed or to have developed healing abilities. It is important to see what type of person was healed and what were the medical conditions in each case both before and after the alleged healing took place. The influence of suggestion and imagination on diverse illnesses of psychogenic origin, or even some physical conditions, should not be underestimated as possible explanations for these cases. There is a growing literature on this topic that is relevant to the study of these supposed NDE-related healings (Sheikh, 1984; Ring, 1984). Grey has pointed out (p. 183) that this explanation does not apply to cases of healing without the diseased person's knowledge that a "treatment" was performed at a distance, but she does not say how common these cases are in her sample. Overall, the evidence for paranormal healing in these cases is very weak, to say the least.
Most of the supposed ESP manifestations are concerned with long-term, ambiguous, and difficult-to-verify prophecies of world events such as earthquakes, food shortage, social unrest, nuclear war, and similar negative events. Other experiences are related to personal events in the lives of the experiencers. However, the author does not mention how many persons in her study showed these "abilities" except to say that it is a "small" number of cases (p. 114).
In the rest of the book, Grey argues for the evolutionary significance of the NDE and its similarity with kundalini-related experiences. Her approach is similar to that of Ring (1984) though both authors developed their ideas independently. According to Grey, some ND experients have suffered symptoms similar to those associated with kundalini manifestations: (1) abnormal breathing patterns; (2) muscular spasms or involuntary body movements; (3) headaches; (4) backaches; (5) itching, tingling, and vibrating sensations; (6) fluctuations of body temperature and energy levels; (7) sensation of bodily expansion and contraction; (8) unusual perceptions of lights or sounds; and (9) sensations of detachment from the body. In her evaluation of these similarities, Grey considers them a "system of human evolution" (p. 168). As she further writes:
“It would seem that similar physiological mechanisms are operating in both the NDE and kundalini phenomena.... Taken together, these spectacular instances of transformation add up to a surprisingly large and increasing percentage of the population and might therefore be expected to have a growing influence on the collective awareness of the rest of the species. ... It would appear that a new breed of mankind may be about to be born, and that in order for this to happen our consciousness and biological structure is undergoing a radical transformation. What we seem to be observing is a rebirth process which ... will eventually culminate in bringing forth an enlightened human being who has knowledge of the life and order of the universe” (p. 168)
ND experients are seen as "the forerunners of this new species" (p. 168).
This evaluation seems to be too enthusiastic at this stage of NDE research. Grey's study presents no information regarding the incidence of kundalini-type experiences in ND-experients, so we have no way of knowing if these experiences are a frequent occurrence or form part of a small subgroup. This – together with lack of knowledge of (1) the nature or correlates of so-called kundalini experiences, (2) their incidence in other circumstances, and (3) the incidence of transformation in general as a result of NDEs – throws doubts on the supposed importance of the experience and on the statement that these changes "add up to a surprisingly large and increasing percentage of the population" (p. 168).
Also, why are these developments taken as evidence of an evolutionary process, or of a purposeful transformation of humankind? I do not see any evidence in this study showing that “the ever-increasing frequency of NDEs seems to be directly related to the evolutionary process of which many enlightened beings are becoming ever more aware, and it could be that higher consciousness is attempting to alert us on a collective level to the urgent need for a universal brotherhood” (p. 193).
I don't think these speculations are self-evident at this stage of our knowledge. Perhaps they may be more a reflection of the humanistic and transpersonal interests of the author than of anything else. For one, the fact of the "ever-increasing frequency of NDEs" (p. 193) may be accounted for by the "ever-increasing" interest in their investigation and the "ever-increasing" rate of success of modern medicine in resuscitation attempts. In any case, the interpretation of this phenomenon cannot be anything but speculative at this stage of the research, and perhaps may be somewhat premature.
In summary, this book suffers from such problems as lack of precise reports of the incidence of specific phenomenological aspects of NDEs, and a tendency to reach premature conclusions based on inadequate sample size. Nonetheless, it is of interest to notice that some of Grey's findings about NDE phenomenology and after-effects are similar to those found in other studies.
Carlos S. Alvarado
Division of Personality Studies
PO Box 800152
Charlottesville, VA 22908
USA
References
Audette, J. R. (1982). Historical Perspectives on Near-Death Episodes and Experiences. In: C. R. Lundahl (ed.) A Collection of Near-Death Research Readings (pp. 21-43). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
Osis, K. & Haraldsson, E. (1977). At the Hour of Death. New York: Avon Books.
Ring, R. (1980). Life at Death. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan, pp. 265-270. [Review]
Ring, K. (1984). Heading Towards Omega. New York: William Morrow
Sheikh, A. A. (ed.) (1984). Imagination and Healing. Farmingdale, NY: Baywood.
© 1987 Parapsychology Press
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