Life Review

A life review is a phenomenon widely reported as occurring during near-death experiences, in which a person rapidly sees much or the totality of his or her life history in chronological sequence and in extreme detail. It is often referred to by people having experienced this phenomenon as having their life "flash before their eyes". The life review is discussed in some detail by near-death experience scholars such as Raymond Moody, Kenneth Ring, and Barbara Rommer. A reformatory purpose seems commonly implicit in accounts, though not necessarily for earthly purpose, since return from a near-death experience may reportedly entail individual choice.

While experiencers, who number up to eight million in the United States alone, sometimes report that reviews took place in the company of otherworldly beings who shared the observation, they also say they felt unjudged during the process, leaving themselves their own strongest critics. Although rare, there are also a few accounts of life reviews or similar experiences without a near-death experience, such as during the simpler out-of-body experience or when under circumstances of intense threat or duress. Most scientists discount near-death experiences themselves and criticize their credibility. Further, there is evidence for cultural differences in the near-death experience, and that the NDE is hallucinatory.