While there are plenty of questions surrounding what happens after people pass away, a new study has revealed exactly the type of dreams and 'visions' that people are most likely to experience just before their own death.
While death is often a sudden occurrence that you simply can't predict, there are a large number of people who pass away in hospital or in healthcare settings with the knowledge that they are approaching their final moments.
Nurses have previously outlined the most common 'signs' that someone is just about to die — and some of these can be rather surprising, including one where people receive a sudden burst of energy as if they were on the mend.
Something that's extremely common among individuals reaching the end of their life, however, are dreams, and a new scientific study has indicated that many of these fall within eerily similar topics.
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New research published in Death Studies has collated information from doctors, nurses, psychologists, and hospice volunteers to build what's what as end-of-life dreams and vision (ELDVs).
These, as the scientists outline, are "coherent and emotionally meaningful experiences reported by lucid patients approaching death," although the explanation behind their consistent appearance, alongside the clinical approach to manage these visions, remains unclear.
"Findings show that ELDVs are frequently described as symbolically rich narratives involving deceased loved ones or imagery related to transition, typically disclosed spontaneously by patients," the study outlines.
It adds that there were a number of 'diverse' interpretive frameworks outlined within the survey of 239 participants, including "psychological, spiritual, existential, and, less often, biomedical," indicating a rather ambiguous delineation from delirium.
Patients experiencing ELDVs will often see images of staircases, bright lights, and doorways – indicating a 'pathway' of sorts to the afterlife – and it's even common for people to see passed relatives and loved ones on the other side 'calling' them over into death.
This perhaps links to the notion of seeing your life flash before your eyes when you're approaching death, as your brain picks out the most important figures in your final moments.
Not every vision is as comforting as you might hope, however, with around one in every ten reported ELDV being categorized as 'distressing' including one where a patient's mother's face was on a monster who was 'dragging her down'.
It's unclear exactly what prompts these unexpectedly disturbing visions when most experience peace, but researchers suggest that it might be the result of unresolved conflicts or could even "indicate unmet clinical or emotional needs."