A distressing near-death experience is one that experiencers describe as frightening, dark, lonely or hellish rather than peaceful. They are reported less often than peaceful ones, they are real to the people who have them, and many experiencers say the story did not end in fear: a turn toward light, love and understanding often followed.
If you are struggling right now: if you are thinking about harming yourself or feel unsafe, call or text 988 in the United States to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact your local emergency number. You deserve support.
Key Takeaways
- NDE hell is the phrase many people search for when they want to understand distressing near-death experiences.
- Experiencers describe darkness, fear, emptiness or threatening scenes, and often a turn toward light and love.
- Some, such as M.K. McDaniel, say their experience was shaped by their own fears and beliefs, not by a judging God.
- A frightening experience does not mean you are bad or that something is wrong with you.
- Help exists: experiencer groups, trusted listeners and 988 if you feel unsafe.
In This Guide
- What Is a Distressing Near-Death Experience?
- Three Patterns Researchers Describe
- What Experiencers Report
- Why Do Some Experiences Turn Frightening?
- The Turn Toward Light and Love
- Not Every Story Is the Same
- Living With a Distressing Experience
- Support and Where to Find It
- Spiritual Views on Heaven and Hell
- Listen, Watch and Practice on Next Level Soul
- Episodes to Watch Next
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Distressing Near-Death Experience?
Most people know the peaceful version of a near-death experience: a tunnel, a light, a loving presence, a review of one’s life. Our complete guide to near-death experiences covers that ground. But some people come back with a very different story. They describe darkness, fear, being trapped, being threatened or being alone. Some use the word hell. Researchers and experiencers often use the broader phrase distressing near-death experience.
This guide gathers what experiencers say, what researchers have described and where to find compassionate support. It is written with care, because for the person who had the experience, it may be the most painful thing they have ever carried. We do not claim to know what these experiences are. We share what experiencers report, in their words.
Three Patterns Researchers Describe
Researchers such as Bruce Greyson and Nancy Evans Bush have described patterns that appear in accounts of distressing near-death experiences. In plain language:
- Familiar features that feel frightening. The tunnel, the leaving of the body or the presence all feel terrifying instead of comforting.
- Emptiness or void. A sense of nothingness, isolation or being lost in darkness.
- Hellish scenes. Threatening beings, torment or places the experiencer experiences as hell.
These categories are descriptive tools, not rules. Many experiencers describe a blend, and many describe a change in the middle, from fear to peace.
What Experiencers Report
M.K. McDaniel, who writes under that name and is also known as Kathy McDaniel, says she cared for a friend through almost eight months of leukemia treatment and then fell gravely ill herself. After a drug-induced coma, she says, she woke in total darkness. She describes a place she later learned to call the void, then a voice asking, “Do you know where you are?” The scenes kept changing and getting worse, with no clocks and no time, and she says it felt like about two years.
She Died and Saw Hell, Heaven and the Hidden Truth About Earth’s Illusion with M.K. McDaniel with M.K. McDaniel. M.K. tells Alex about the frightening landscapes she says she moved through, the carol that she says changed everything and the lesson about love and lightness she brought back.
Other guests describe different shapes of fear. Terry Yoder says that at 14 he left his body, hovered above it and heard a voice that kept saying let go. He did not trust it. He says his father opening the garage door instantly shoved him back into his body, and that his father saved his life. Terry says the experience opened his gifts, that a guide then told him to resist a negative force, and that he now uses a simple routine for heavy moments: stop, speak a firm prayer, then meditate on white and golden light.
He Left His Body at 14 and Something Tried to Take Him with Terry Yoder with Terry Yoder. Terry tells Alex how that moment opened his gifts, how he learned to protect his peace and why he works as a medium and tarot reader.
Why Do Some Experiences Turn Frightening?
Nobody can say for certain, and experiencers reach different understandings. M.K. McDaniel says the hell she saw was built from her own fears, her religious teaching and painful memories, not from a God who condemns. She describes meeting other experiencers at the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) years later and feeling redeemed, because for years nobody would listen.
Other perspectives you may encounter:
- Fear and expectation. Some experiencers and teachers suggest that the mind may shape what is seen, including fears carried from childhood or from religious teaching.
- Medical context. Researchers also discuss the roles of medication, trauma, oxygen levels and other physical factors in how experiences feel. These discussions are ongoing.
- A lesson or a threshold. Some experiencers see the frightening part as a lesson, a confrontation with fear or a threshold crossed on the way to love.
- Not knowing. Many experiencers simply say they do not know, and that this is acceptable.
Whatever the cause, the experience is not a verdict on the person. The people on this page describe a turn toward love, not condemnation.
Woman in Coma Sees Heaven and Hell with NDE with Kathy McDaniel with Kathy McDaniel. Kathy describes a distressing near-death experience, a sudden turn into light and love, and years spent trying to understand it all.
The Turn Toward Light and Love
A striking theme in many of these accounts is the turn. M.K. McDaniel says she began singing a Christmas carol, others joined, and light, love and warmth flooded in. Her message: lighten up, and remember that what counts is how much you love. Dianne Sherman describes being pushed into a blackness she had feared since childhood, until one small glimmer of light grew into an iridescent white that felt like it was there for her. A hooded figure told her it was not her time.
Peter Panagore, a 21-year-old climber, says hypothermia took him past tunnel vision into an opening of infinite darkness before a tiny star rushed toward him and spoke without language. These stories do not erase the fear. But they show that for many, darkness was not the whole story.
Not Every Story Is the Same
It helps to hold these accounts next to others. Nancy Rynes was a scientist trained to believe the brain produces consciousness and an atheist whose parents had told her she was going to hell. She says that after being struck by a texting driver while cycling, she found herself in a misty meadow feeling like she was being hugged energetically with love, with no dogma and no judgment.
Clinically Dead Woman Shown Love, No Dogma or Religion with Nancy Rynes with Nancy Rynes. Nancy explores what she says followed during surgery: a meadow, a silvery teacher, a life review seen through other people’s eyes and a lesson about love without dogma.
Different experiencers report different experiences. There is no single script, and no one has to measure their experience against anyone else’s.
Living With a Distressing Experience
People who have had a distressing near-death experience often describe a particular kind of loneliness. The experience can be hard to explain, and listeners sometimes respond with fear or judgment. M.K. McDaniel says that for years nobody would listen. If that is your story, here are gentle steps experiencers and supporters suggest:
- Write it down. Put the whole experience on paper, including the frightening parts, without editing.
- Tell one safe person. Someone who will listen without telling you what it means.
- Separate the experience from your worth. A frightening experience is not a judgment of who you are.
- Return to simple comforts. Sleep, food, sunlight, music and time with people who care for you.
- Try a gentle practice. Terry Yoder suggests stopping, speaking a firm prayer and meditating on white and golden light. Other people prefer a quiet meditation or the forgiveness practice Ho’oponopono.
- Find other experiencers. Many report that this was the turning point.
Support and Where to Find It
- Experiencer groups. The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) lists sharing groups, and distressing experiences are welcome there.
- Licensed professionals. A therapist or counselor who is open to spiritual experiences can help with fear, grief, intrusive memories and sleep. This guide is not medical advice.
- Trusted spiritual teachers. Choose people who respond with compassion, not condemnation.
- Crisis support. If you are thinking about harming yourself or feel unsafe, call or text 988 in the United States to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact your local emergency number.
If someone you love has had this kind of experience, listen without judging, avoid telling them what it means and do not suggest that it reflects their character. Believing that they had the experience is often the kindest first step. Our guide to after-effects and integration can help you both go slowly.
Spiritual Views on Heaven and Hell
Different traditions understand these ideas differently. Some see heaven and hell as places, others as states of consciousness, and others as stages on the soul’s journey. Many metaphysical teachers describe the afterlife as shaped by awareness, intention and love, and link experiences to karma and reincarnation. Others see a frightening encounter as a form of ego death or the dark night of the soul. We offer these as perspectives to explore, not as answers you must adopt. You may also find comfort in the higher self and oneness entries, which many seekers describe as the opposite of isolation.
Listen, Watch and Practice on Next Level Soul
When fear is loud, calm listening can help. These NLS TV audiobooks explore death, fear and what comes after, and are included with a Next Level Soul TV membership.
Audiobooks on Fear, Death and What Comes After
For calm, guided practice, explore the NLS guided meditations and the audio courses, including Soul Rising. You can also browse the full audiobook catalog and the Next Level Soul Podcast.
Episodes to Watch Next
More Next Level Soul conversations with experiencers who describe darkness and light.
Sources and Further Reading
Near-Death Experience Documentaries on Next Level Soul TV
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an NDE hell experience?
An NDE hell experience is the way some people describe a distressing near-death experience: darkness, fear, threatening scenes or a sense of being lost or judged. Researchers call these distressing near-death experiences, and experiencers describe them very differently.
Do people really see hell during a near-death experience?
Some experiencers say so, using the word hell for what they went through. How to interpret those accounts is debated. Guests on Next Level Soul describe their own experiences in their own words, and we share them as personal accounts, not as claims about what must be true for everyone.
How common are distressing near-death experiences?
Reports of them are far less common than reports of peaceful experiences, and estimates vary between studies. Some experiencers also keep these stories private for years, so the true numbers are hard to know.
What do researchers call the different types of distressing NDEs?
Researchers such as Bruce Greyson and Nancy Evans Bush have described patterns that include experiences that begin as peaceful ones but feel frightening, experiences of emptiness or void, and experiences with hellish scenes. The categories are descriptive, and experiencers often describe more than one.
Why would a near-death experience be frightening?
Nobody knows for certain. M.K. McDaniel says the hell she saw was built from her own fears, her religious teaching and painful memories, not from a God who condemns. Others have different interpretations. It is an open question, and each experiencer reaches their own understanding.
Does a hellish NDE mean the person was judged or is bad?
Experiencers who describe these experiences are often told, or come to believe, nothing of the kind. M.K. McDaniel says the turning point for her was love, not punishment, and her bottom line is to be loving, kind, merciful, forgiving and useful.
Can a distressing NDE turn into a positive one?
Some experiencers describe exactly that. M.K. McDaniel says she began singing a Christmas carol, others joined, and light, love and warmth flooded in. Dianne Sherman describes being pushed into a darkness she had feared since childhood, then seeing a glimmer of light grow into an iridescent white.
Is a distressing NDE a sign of mental illness?
No. Having a frightening experience does not mean something is wrong with you. If you are struggling afterward, a licensed professional who is open to spiritual experiences can help, just as with any other life-changing event.
What should I do if I had a hellish or frightening near-death experience?
Be gentle with yourself, write down what you remember, tell one safe person, and look for other experiencers. Groups listed by the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) include people who have had distressing experiences too. If you feel unsafe, call or text 988 in the United States.
What if I am afraid of dying because of these stories?
Fear is understandable, and these stories are only one part of the wider picture. Many experiencers describe peace and love, and even those with distressing accounts often describe a turn toward light. A trusted counselor or spiritual teacher can help you work with the fear.
How do I support someone who had a distressing NDE?
Listen without judging, do not tell them what it means, and do not suggest that it reflects their character. Believe that they had the experience, stay calm, and help them find support such as an experiencer group or a licensed professional.
Where can I find more near-death experience stories?
Start with our main guide to near-death experiences and the Divine Encounters episodes of the Next Level Soul Podcast, where guests describe what they say happened and how it changed their lives.
Go Deeper with NLS Mastery: Beyond the Veil
A grounded exploration of what lies beyond death and how that understanding changes how we live. Julie Ryan teaches it in Beyond the Veil, part of NLS Mastery. Watch the course preview below.
