Death & Beyond

Visions in Hospice: What They Mean

By cjliu | May 25, 2020

CJ Liu interviews Christopher Kerr, MD, Phd about his book, “Death is but a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at Life’s End.” Dr. Kerr is the CEO and chief medical officer at Hospice Buffalo.

Dr. Kerr shares his research that included interviews with over 1400 hospice patients for over a decade long. What he found was that 80% of those that were dying experienced pre-death visions. While it may be easier to see these visions as delusions caused by medications or illness, he now knows that these dreams often proceed death. Through his research he found that 72% of those surveyed had visions where they had interactions with loved ones that had already passed. Generally, the loved ones that showed up were those people in the person’s life that showed them unconditional love.

While many had positive visions, 17% re-experienced unresolved issues in their lives. He shares a story of someone who served in the Battle of Normandy that had unresolved PTSD. Before death, he found resolution through these visions. Others woke up and gained insight on unfinished business with the living. For example, he shares a story of a man that asked his daughter for forgiveness for not being the ideal dad.

Dr. Kerr was curious how these visions correlate to the proximity of death. He shares that in the beginning of their hospice care, visions are often about the living and making preparations to die. As they come closer to death they have more experiences with those that are deceased. Throughout the process of these visions, patients gained more peace, acceptance, and meaning. They moved from the physical plane to a more spiritual plane of reality.

Last, CJ asks Dr. Kerr about how he will face death knowing what he now knows. Dr. Kerr explains what he’s learned about the transformative power of dying and how a continual chain of love eases his natural biological fears of death.