OBE's... spiritual or psychological phenomenon? (Moved)

[HarryStottle]

[The Prof]

Aged about 16, I suffered a "spontaneous pneumothorax" - the sudden and unprovoked collapse of my left lung, which - self evidently reduced my inhalation capacity quite severely. I didn't at the time, know what had cause it, but the reduction of the lung's size to about that of a tennis ball gave my chest an amazing resonance my heartbeat seemed ten times as loud - I thought I was having a heart attack! I remained conscious, but the strength drained out of me, curiously just as I was passing a newly repointed stone wall. I leaned on the wall relying on its friction to keep me upright as my legs seemed to have turned to spaghetti. And there, as I stood propped up by the wall, (reasonably convinced that I had perhaps minutes left to live) I saw myself as if from from above, looking down and thinking "that poor bloke's in real trouble" (the "poor bloke" in question was me!) I was in fact not in any serious medical danger... just half as well provided with oxygen as normal! And by the most fortuitous coincidence, my doctor's surgery was only about a hundred yards away, and a hospital (long since closed down!) a hundred yards further on. My GP saw me immediately and produced an astoundingly fast diagnosis, got me into his car and drove to the hospital where an X-ray confirmed his diagnosis. I didn't mention the "floating and looking down at myself" to anyone at the time - they were all to busy getting a tube into my chest to reflate the lung - and I almost forgot about it until some years later I heard about "Out of Body Experiences" and thought "That happened to me!" I fitted the usual specification with the exception that I hadn't been "near death"... just starved of oxygen, and convinced that I was about to die. I'm amazed about how calmly I took the prospect!

[HarryStottle]

Your "calmly" triggered a memory recall.

I've never had a true OOBE but I was once knocked off my bike while riding into work at 5 oclock one morning in the early 70s. It was mid summer so full daylight, but the car driver coming the other way and overtaking the lorry apparently failed to noticed the cyclist coming towards him. Fortunately he didn't hit me head on or I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. He struck me with the side of the car.

Nevertheless, as I was flying through the air, I remember the crystal clarity of my thoughts and the calm planning.

"I'm going to hit that bridge rampart. I must try to stay reasonably vertical or else I'm going to sustain a severe head injury". I duly hit the rampart, sustaining no more than a severe bruise to my shoulder. As I landed I was thinking: "OK, now I need to stand up to prove I'm still alive" (I've never quite understood the logic of that - its as though I needed to prove it to the rest of the world - even though the only person available to notice was the idiot who had caused the accident). So I stood up. Then I thought. "OK, I'm alive. Now I'd better sit down because the shock will hit me in a few seconds" and I sat down and the shock did indeed hit me in a few seconds. It was all as though an "emergency me" had kicked in, taken charge and let go when everything was "under control" again. But what stays with me to this day is the complete absence of fear, panic or even anxiety. Total calm.

I've experienced it in a number of crises since but on a less dramatic scale, partially, I suppose, because I've "invited it in".