It's way different than you think

What Does It Feel Like to Die?

It's a question many ponder, often with a mix of curiosity and fear. Scientists are now closer than ever to understanding the dying process. Recent research involving the study of brains and bodies of dying individuals provides new insights.

Stage One: Relaxation

A meta-analysis indicates that most people in the Western World die in medical institutions, where the initial sign of death is a loss of appetite and thirst. Physicians refer to this as the beginning of active dying, characterized by a profound sense of relaxation. During this phase, individuals can typically only manage small spoonful of food and water.

Stage Two: Extreme Fatigue and Unconsciousness

One study found that 72% of patients in this phase experienced pre-death dreams involving reunions with deceased loved ones, 59% dreamt of preparing for a journey, and 28% recalled meaningful past experiences. These dreams occur because individuals are mostly asleep, sometimes dipping into unconsciousness. If someone tries to wake them physically, they won't respond. Studies show that unconscious patients who eventually wake up think they were merely asleep. This stage feels like being unable to get out of bed due to a severe cold or flu, but the sleep is no longer restorative, and fatigue persists. Since the patient is often unconscious, planning for oral medications becomes challenging, necessitating the use of syringe pumps or suppositories for medication administration.

Stage Three: Seeing Light

At this stage, the heart beats less forcefully, blood pressure drops, and organs, including the brain, begin to shut down. As the brain attempts to conserve energy, it loses the ability to inhibit visual stimuli. This lack of inhibition may explain reports of seeing light during near-death experiences. Studies on rats and some human studies show that dying brains' visual systems fire, causing this phenomenon.

Stage Four: The Death Rattle

An unconscious person's breathing follows the brain's automatic respiratory patterns, but without proper awareness of their mouth and throat, saliva builds up. This mixture of saliva and automatic quick breaths creates loud breathing noises, known as the death rattle. Though it sounds disturbing to observers, the dying person feels no distress, as they are extremely relaxed.

Stage Five: Brain Surging

A 2013 study on rats dying from cardiac arrest found that specific brain regions surged with synchronized low gamma waves, more coherent than when the rats were healthy. Similar findings in human studies revealed intense brain activity during resuscitation, with some individuals reporting lucid experiences, such as out-of-body perceptions, life reviews, and emotional evaluations. This is likely linked to the brain's disinhibition during death. Some resuscitated individuals accessed stored memories, while others remembered nothing, despite active brain scans. Some reported feeling like they were moving toward a place that felt like home. Another study found that brain activity in a dying man was similar to those on the psychedelic drug DMT. However, recent studies suggest that resuscitated individuals' experiences differ from hallucinations, illusions, or dreams.

Common Thoughts and Regrets

What do people think about before they die? Are there common regrets or emotions? You can share your thoughts using the comment section.