So what really happens when we die?
Last week I wrote about the impending death of my ex husband. He passed at home Saturday night, in the company of his girl friend, her daughter and son-in-law. My daughter had gone to see him earlier in the day.
She’s doing as well as can be expected. Questioning the decisions she made to withdraw fluids and advocate for the use of the meds hospice provides to ward off pain and agitation. I put that to rest right away. I was the one in that position when my father died 11 years ago.
As for me, I’m feeling a lot of regret that I never apologized to my ex about ending our marriage. The ending of the marriage and the subsequent sale of our house signaled the end of my days living in Bolinas, Sure, I rented a place in Stinson Beach for three years but it wasn’t the same.
My brother wrote us about his feelings about death, how after having been through so many at his age and attending so many funerals, he has the feeling that there truly is something after, that people pass from one state of being to another. I was shocked reading that. Shocked because I realized it’s been such a very long time since I even entertained the possibility of life after death.
I started thinking about near death and out of body experiences and how I was once fascinated with these stories, clung to them even as a signal that there was another chapter.
Curiously enough, a story popped up in my Apple News feed yesterday about how the brain releases a psychedelic substance at the time of death which explains near death experiences (NDEs).
Turns out that those near death experiences (NDEs) are attributable to the brain releasing “a surge of neurotransmitters” immediately following death. And during the process of dying, endorphins and serotonin are released through the body to “ease the transition.”
According to Psychology Today, a surge in the natural psychedelic DMT causes intense and vivid experiences.
The article notes:
A groundbreaking 2013 study conducted on rats revealed that within 30 seconds after cardiac arrest, there was a significant increase in neural activity across various brain regions.3
This hyperactivity was characterized by synchronized brain oscillations similar to those observed during heightened states of consciousness.
Further research in human subjects supports the idea of heightened brain activity after death. In a 2022 study, researchers observed similar spikes in brain activity in a human patient after his heart had stopped, suggesting that the brain might still be processing information after clinical death
-snip-
The effects of DMT include profound alterations in perception, feelings of transcendence, and encounters with mystical entities, closely mirroring descriptions of NDEs.
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We tend to focus on the daily aspects of our lives and it's easy to get caught up in forgetting that one day we will die.
But death doesn't stay away.
This is why we make films about the end of life.
If you're curious, visit our website to find out more
whenyoudie.org/death-film/
#whenyoudie
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— The When You Die Project (@whenyoudie.bsky.social) July 11, 2025 at 5:48 AM
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