People Who Have Been Clinically Dead Share Their Experiences
Near death experiences are a pretty popular subject in media. Many books, movies, and television shows have been based on the experiences of those who were clinically dead for a time.
We don't really know a whole lot about what happens to the human consciousness when we die, though.
Redditors shared their near death experiences at the behest of u/Jason_Whorehees:
"Redditors who have been clinically dead, what did you experience in death, if anything?"
Some responses have been edited for content, clarity, or profanity.
*CONTENT WARNING: descriptions of near death experiences, death, and suicide*
40.
My girlfriend is anaphylactic, and it is triggered by a chemical called salicylate (found in pretty much every food). When she was in high school she had her first big reaction, and the school nurses refused to administer her epipen (adrenaline shot) until the ambulance got there. Now obviously, having an anaphylactic reaction doesn't give you a lot of 'waiting time', so by the time the ambulance got to her school she was in pretty bad shape and barely conscious.
The paramedics immediately administered one of her epipens, called the nurses "f*cking tw*ts" and loaded her into the ambulance as her mother arrived. She continued to fade, so they gave her a direct injection of adrenaline this time, still nothing. They give her a second direct injection of adrenaline and this time it hits her about 30 seconds later all at once, and her heart fails. She stops breathing, no pulse, nothing. Dead to the world. For about 2 minutes and 46 seconds she was clinically dead. And the scariest thing is, she saw nothing.
She tells me that when you are losing consciousness you can't tell the difference between waves of drowsiness and when your body actually shuts down. All she saw was the darkness of her eyelids, and it felt like going into an extremely calm sleep where she couldn't hear or feel anything, and she didn't mind it. All despite the fact her mother and the paramedics were screaming at her to keep her eyes open and the ambulance was flying towards the hospital.
She miraculously just came back to life almost 3 minutes later as they were giving her chest compressions, and the cardiologist that assessed her later stated that all the adrenaline in her body was enough to not only stop her heart, but to also restart it with the little help from the paramedic pumping it around. But still do this day, she can't differentiate falling asleep after a long day, and dying.
39.
Friend of mine described it as deeply relaxing and that she could feel herself drifting away, but was brought back just as she was ready to "leave".
After that, she embraced life and death. She said she doesn't fear death anymore since it was so relaxing to experience.
38.
My wife and I discussed this at length. 4 years ago, she died twice in 3 months, needing full resuscitation both times. Both were lengthy rescues (one resuscitation was off-and-on for nearly 40 minutes).
I asked her later when she had recovered if she remembered anything at all during the times she was clinically dead. She remembered nothing. Blackness.
No light. No relatives and former pets waiting for her. Just... black. Thankfully, also no pain.
She finally passed 18 months ago, and I hope she felt no pain or worry the final time.
37.
Not mine but the head of my program was in a horrible car accident. She was dead for a few minutes on the scene while paramedics worked on her. She said it was the most amazing feeling she's ever experienced. It was blank black nothing, but that was perfectly fine, and she felt a comfort she can't even explain.
She remembers being angry at the man working on her when she finally came back to her body because she wanted to stay there. She told us she can't wait to experience it again when it's really her turn.
Edit: I'm really pleased this resonated so strongly with so many of you! I wanted to add some detail about her. She's not religious in the slightest, and she actively quashes our ghost stories and sh*t (mortuary students) because she only believes in tangible things, so she fully turned me into a believer.
Felt its important I make a distinction she was very adamant about when telling us this story- she's not advocating suicide. She stressed that she isn't telling us she's trying to reach this place again but that when it was her time she was going to be comfortable embracing it.
36.
I coded after surgery. I remember being able to see and hear everything and understand what was happening, but I couldn't physically feel anything. It was deeply unsettling.
35.
I drowned and was resuscitated when I was a teenager.
I remember struggling mightily and then, when I was sure there wasn't any hope, a distinct Okay then. I can let go. And from that moment on, there was peace. Total peace. Nothing hurt, I didn't even feel the dying part. I would imagine, for someone who decides upon suicide, the peace started the second they made that choice. It's said that suicide victims often looked happiest/calmest in their final days.
Now that being said: there are other, better ways of obtaining peace that aren't destructive, and I urge anyone reading this who is considering suicide to talk to someone. It is entirely possible to be happy again while alive; you just can't do it without outside help.
34.
I was electrocuted by about 13,800 volts. The doctors say it's likely the first hit stopped my heart and the second one started it (before I was pulled like a lifeless corpse to safety).
I remember experiencing the darkest dark and the most silent silence. I ceased to care that I was dying; time seemed to change, it could have been hours it seemed. It was only about 30 seconds.
I felt as though I was floating and floated toward something that I eventually realized was my body and reality. Upon joining with whatever it was I was floating towards, I became self aware in my body and heard the electricity making horrible noises and knew I was in danger.
From there it was a horribly painful experience where I lost most of my toes due to tissue death and had severe electrical burns on all four limbs. More surgeries than I care to count and seeing the round bone ends of my toes that were freshly amputated still haunts me a little.
EDIT: Thank you everyone for helping me understand something that happened over 12 years ago. I was in the hospital for about a month inpatient, and then for 10 months, daily as an outpatient (basically sent me home for my mental sanity but needed daily attention). I got addicted to pain killers, had to learn to walk again and had to see a pain management therapist.
It was horrible at times but eventually the pain began to subside. I went back to school and became an engineer and I don't think I'd be where I am without this thing happening. Really strange to think that I am in some way grateful now. Also I can't watch horror anymore, Hollywood actually does a very realistic job.
33.
I was on loads of morphine so it's still really hazy and the fact it happened almost 6 years ago doesn't help the memory, but I'll try to recollect, as accurately I can, what happened and what I experienced.
I had appendicitis and my foster parents at the time didn't take me to the hospital until 2, almost 3 days after it had burst. I should've been dead well before they took me, even the doctors called it a miracle. Well, I died while waiting for surgery.
I had to wait for a pediatric surgeon to come in because no one else felt comfortable performing the surgery on a case this bad with a child this size (dumb@sses took me to the adult hospital, not the pediatrics which was 40 mins away. I was 14, 5'3 and weighed 75 pounds soaking wet). So while I was waiting for the surgeon I was in a room with me, the doctor, my two foster parents and my grandmother who is an RN. Like I said, I was really drugged up and couldn't really focus on much and couldn't really do anything.
The monitor I was hooked up to would beep really loudly from time to time and the intervals between beeps started to decrease rapidly. Turns out I wasn't breathing. I was conscious for the most part, I just kept forgetting to breathe. Doctors had to keep nudging me so I wouldn't sleep. I just remember being pissed at this loud beeping that kept me from enjoying a nice slumber.
The doctor had to step out for a second and my grandmother assured him she could look after me for a second. Unfortunately for her, she was out of her mind with rage at my foster parents. She didn't hold anything back. My grandma is a sweet, Mormon Utahn without a rude bone in her body. Well, I heard quite a few F yous, pieces of sh*t, etc. My point is she didn't notice I had passed out until the monitor signaled I had flat lined.
This is the bit where I died and is by far the most vivid part of the experience. I remember being capable of thought but no thoughts were in my head. I can only describe it as being conscious of my spirit but without a body for my thoughts to be processed in. I just kind of existed without feeling, thinking or being anything. I was floating. Honestly at the time it was a great feeling. I don't remember any visions of people, family, places or anything like that. But I felt something wrap around me and comfort me.
Without talking I was assured I was ok, that there was nothing to be worried about, and at that point my thoughts returned. I knew at that moment, without knowing how long I'd be able to keep thinking, that I had to go back. I didn't want to, but knowing that the last thing I'd see before I left mortal life was these two pieces of human trash who had abused me, neglected me, and treated me like a stain that they didn't want to bother trying to clean up, that did it. I wanted to get back to my body, fix my life so I could go back and live with my biological parents and feel loved again.
In that moment that's all I cared about. And then I sort of willed myself back. Doctors had tried to resuscitate me but had failed. Everyone was shocked when I opened my eyes and seeing the tears in my grandma's eyes after thinking she'd lost me, that did it. I fixed my life, I reinvented myself and threw out all my anger, depression, rage and everything else that put me in Brent and Karen's home.
Honestly, the only anger I felt (the burning hatred kind that makes you want to do anything possible to release it) in the last 5ish years since I moved from their home is when I think about them and how they're still fostering youth in custody and probably pulling the same things with those kids. I live about an hour away from where they are now and I have to restrain myself from driving up there, kidnapping those kids and taking them to the authorities with an explanation of why.
The only reason I haven't done that is because I've tried telling the authorities what kind of people they are. I guess the words of a juvenile screw up don't stack up against the lies from people who have practiced this for years.
Anyways, sorry for the rant at the end. I know that wasn't entirely what you'd asked, but it felt good to type out. Thanks OP for asking this question. It's been surprisingly therapeutic talking about this.
32.
I was dead for a very short period of time, like 30 seconds to a minute. There's a big misconception about it. It's not like sleeping at all. I'll try to explain. There's always a sort of white noise in the back of my mind. It quiets down when I sleep but it's still there. I never noticed it before I died, but I do now. I don't want to romanticize death, but when I was out, it was like this perfect nothingness.
And nothingness is so hard to imagine normally, but once you "experience" it, and they bring you back, part of you wishes you could have stayed. There's no positive feelings there, obviously, but it takes away everything bad too. All your stress, the nightmares, the troubles. All gone. Just nothing exists. It's beautiful in a way. But I'm very much looking forward to a lack of consciousness when I do eventually pass again, and I can honestly say I don't fear death anymore.
31.
I don't know what I experienced while I was dead but when I woke back up (so to speak) I remember wanting to experience it permanently.
29.
Clinically dead on two separate occasions. I didn't experience any visions or light and I didn't feel anything at all. It was like a switch was flipped and my existence was just shut off. Coming back was another story. Slowly I was able to hear the voices of those around me fading in, and they slowly got louder until I was able to open my eyes. That's it. Nothing spectacular. One second you're here, one second you're not.
28.
Former co-worker of mine died during heart surgery. I think she was out for 90 seconds or close to it. She wasn't religious or anything. She said that she remembered being in the room and seeing her dead uncle and cousin standing at the far end of the room watching everything going on.
Fun fact: she shared this information during an icebreaker "give us a fun fact about yourself". She didn't remember seeing a light or anything, just seeing her dead relatives at the end of the room.
27.
My mother experienced a long corridor with arched door ways, one was open and she said she refused to go in.
She suffered a massive stroke at 27 to from a spinal tap done a week earlier.
26.
I saw my grandpa. We talked for a while and he said I could go back with him, or stay. I looked down and saw myself in that hospital bed with my brother holding my hand. He felt it turn cold and I never saw him cry that way before. Went back into my body and felt more pain than I knew in my life. Been a year of recovery and I lost most of my memory but I'm happy.
(Skull fracture/traumatic brain injury from heat exhaustion)
Edit: Here's a link with a pic of my brothers reaction when I woke up and when my mom played music for me trying to get me to wake up.
25.
I was dead for 6 minutes. I was laying on the gurney and I was getting colder. Somewhere my body started warming up and everything became really calm and peaceful. I was not longer in pain. All the noise from ER just went away. It was really enjoyable. I was thinking about my daughter and I was remembering all the things we had done. Slowly it was just black and nothing. There was no knowledge of anything. I explain it as it was like before I was born.
Then the worst thing in the world is being revived. I starting hearing loud noises, I felt this massive pain. Then there was the nastiest stench ever. The smell was like every dead animal had crawled in my nose. The smell was so bad I started vomiting. I remember the Drs turning me on my side and watching my vomit spray on a nurse. Dying was the most pleasant thing I have ever experienced and being revived the worst.
24.
I was 19 when I had my first hip replacement surgery (born with a bad hip). The doctor put me under and then all the sudden it was like I was opening my eyes but felt... Nothing.
No pain, no sadness. Nothing.
Apparently I flatlined for 90 seconds due to complications. As I had my eyes 'open' I began to rise out of my body and stand next to it. How freaky is it to see yourself from outside your body? The thing is I never let my left hand let go of my body's left hand.
It felt... Attached
The second I saw the nurse use the (heart starting thing?) I was jolted upright - back in my body.
23.
Not really sure what happened and it still freaks me out to this day. May daughter was 4 and developed pneumonia. Her breathing would stop in her sleep so we took her in to the emergency room. She was there for a total of 5 days. For the first 3 days her health kept deteriorating. And on the 3rd day my girlfriend got a call that her mother had collapsed and was taken to the hospital.
She was without oxygen for 20 minutes and was declared brain dead. That night my daughter woke up and asked about grandma. No one had said anything to her or in the room with her. We asked her what did she mean. She told us that grandma came to her in a dream and said it's not your time yet. I'll go for you. Immediately the next day she was almost 100 percent better.
22.
Anaphylaxis, wasn't breathing, I considered all the hallucinations I experienced likely due to hypoxic episode until I told my Mom what I saw. A middle aged man who wasn't in scrubs standing still at the end of my bed while all staff were running around and doing their business. I was having a non-verbal conversation with him and he was telling me to calm down, focus on breathing.
He wore a tropical style button down shirt, one of those old school news boys hats and had a very pleasant demeanor. Mom showed me a photo of my grampa that I never had seen before, and it was the guy at the foot of my bed, and he died before I was even born.
Edit: Didn't know this would comfort so many people, just remember not to worry too much about death and remember to enjoy your life while you have it.
21.
Overdosed. Flatlined. Didn't see a damn thing. When they hit me with Narcan, I woke up really mad ripping IV's out of my arms, cursing out the poor, amazing staff who saved my life. Good times! 6 years ago now with all that behind me luckily.
20.
Waking up just pissed as hell. I WANT TO GO BACK TO SLEEP.
I told the medics to f*ck off im going back to sleep and heard the scariest "DO NOT F*CKING GO BACK TO SLEEP," like he meant it with every fiber of his being. So terrifying
I didn't get to go back to sleep...
Edit: so for the record, this was my first time use. I thought it was like cocaine and you do an entire line, (a matchstick head size is enough). I was extremely wrong. I wasn't a junkie, didn't experience withdrawals. I did throw up once I got to the hospital, but I did go back to the drug for a bit after because I felt like a part of me did actually die. The withdrawals I felt after that are wayyyy different.
I'm clean now though. Had a good year. The previous two were extremely tough though. Heroin was my escape to feeling stuck in a profession that wasn't for me, and couldn't find happiness anywhere because I had graduated and left all my friends at school, moved back home and was unable to live a life I wanted to.
19.
A black void. Then waking up in ER surrounded by people running around like crazy. I was cold af , but in reality, just room temp.
Had to add and say that it was relatively peaceful. Like being wrapped in a big warm blanket.
18.
I died twice after I got MRSA into my heart area after a major surgery. I don't remember much of anything when I was out (cliché as it was I saw a light) but damn that year sucked.
17.
A friend of mine described death (she was technically dead twice) as being surrounded by darkness and floating with some sort of warm gel-like substance covering her. She never wanted to leave that state.
16.
I don't know if this counts, as I don't think I flatlined, but I had a huge post-partum haemorrhage after my second (and last) child was born. I lost 2.3 litres of blood, which I think is about half of all my blood, and considered the highest classification of blood loss before death occurs. I was given general anaesthetic before I passed out on my own, but leading up to that was such a surreal experience.
As someone has previously mentioned, there is this sense of acceptance, of laying back and going with it. When I first started bleeding I was scared, and panicking. By the time I was being wheeled into theatre, I was smiling at the midwife and telling her it was going to be ok. I was delirious and euphoric and not scared at all. My vision started to go, at first it was coloured spots then everything had a grey hue, as tunnel vision set in. Sound became muffled, like putting my hands over my ears.
The whole time, the general feeling of indifference and no urge to fight it was there. It was so calm I don't think I've ever computed just how lucky I am to be here. So a near death experience by blood loss, can confirm, not bad.
The recovery though, I felt like crap for literal weeks and had PTSD. I was so physically weak that I could barely take care of the baby and had to inject myself with anti clotting meds for 6 weeks every day.
15.
When I was 15 I was scheduled to do a tilt table test (they lean you up at an angle on a table) because I was consistently experiencing dizziness and fainting spells. After about 20 minutes the doctor tilted the table back and I could feel myself passing out. I got severe tunnel vision and lost like 95% of my eyesight, like looking through a straw and then I blacked out. I remember hearing the dr call the code and my father cussing at the dr that he "killed" me.
I remember hearing alot of slamming and banging around, which I assumed was the crash cart and nurses shoving into this small testing room. I felt a pressure on my chest, like when you have someone stand on your back to crack it, which I found out later was the nurses doing CPR.
I saw an array of vivid colors kind of dancing around forming objects in the dark. The scariest thing was how peaceful it felt, just pure 100% peace. No panic, no pain, no sadness, nothing just bliss. I coded for just under two minutes and as soon as I came too and opened my eyes, I felt seriously angry and hostile, I started ripping off whatever I could get my hands on and yelling at the dr to get me off the table.
Forgot to mention my heart stopped because I had an undiagnosed heart problem (Wolff Parkinson White) that caused my heart to more or less misfire.
14.
Not necessarily"clinically dead" but I was pronounced dead two times in the same night after a car accident I was in when I was 16. My great grandma pulled me out of the car and we walked through this really peaceful field of flowers. When I woke up two weeks later she was sitting on the edge of my bed and told me to tell my mom that everything was going to be okay.
13.
Whoah, my step dad accidentally overdosed from mixing pain meds/alcohol and he said he saw something very similar. A long hallway with several doors. Except he said he opened a few of them and they were beautiful landscapes, like meadows and mountains and lakes. He said he just kept opening the doors and it was very peaceful until he got yanked back to real life, even though he didn't want to leave the hallway.
12.
This actually happened to me Monday. Tuesday morning actually. Was going thru a lot of money issues and thought I was going to lose everything. Hung myself in the closet. Fiance found me cut me down called 911. I was blue, dead in her arms and I pissed in my pants. Tongue is still swollen have no idea how that happened. The emt's brought me back. I was dead and they brought me back. I'm still at the hospital now and don't see me leaving anytime soon.
Anyway I saw nothing. Just darkness. No sounds. No white light . Nothing. Black. Next thing I know I woke up in an ambulance.
Suicide sucks guys don't even try it. People love you.
11.
I don't share it much but I've had 4 heart surgeries, and in my first and third one I coded. You had to be conscious for these surgeries to get your heart to react appropriately.
The first time it was just nothingness. Black. Just nothing. I can't even explain how long it felt like nothingness. And then I remember waking up with them over me saying we lost you for a second there, are you okay?
The second time is the hard one to share. I woke up in a type of subway feeling thing but everything was white. The subway, the tunnel walls we were speeding through. I didn't have a body per say, it felt like I was the subway at times, and the. At times it was like i was just looking out a window at the tunnel wall.
It came to a stop and it was just black nothingness again. And then I heard a voice of a much older man.
He said "Are you ready to go?" And I just had nothing. Like I didn't know how to speak. "We're going now if you're ready..." And something inside me felt so ready to go. Like I was a magnet to it... this unknown destination in the black nothingness ahead.
I remember finally saying "o..ok". He said another time with a slightly different tone. "We'll be leaving here. You are ready to go?"
And finally something in me snapped, and I remembered I had a life, and people I'd leave behind. And my first thought was "I can't leave my girlfriend. I couldn't do that. And my Mom and Dad. My puppies. I can't leave any of them. My family, my friends.."
And I made a decision I couldn't leave. I didn't even have to say it. Once I decided I couldn't leave and I was for sure staying I woke up and came to consciousness with the medical team all around me.
10.
Not me personally but my grandmother after giving birth to my uncle was clinically dead for a bit. She told me that she felt herself rising out of her body and she ended up in the top corner of the room with a view over her bed and the doctor. It was then that she willed herself back to her body and was alive again.
Edit: After looking through this thread, it seems as though this has happened to a lot of people. I always just thought she was a bit crazy, as this was the story she told me for her justification for believing that there is a God/afterlife, but I guess there is truth in her story.
09.
Overdosed on caffeine (have a weak heartbeat). Before it actually happened, I was hallucinating/dreaming and couldn't see clearly. All my fear faded away in an instant. Then it all just went black, and it felt like I was asleep but I didn't remember when I actually fell down and blacked out. Woke up when my heart restarted wanting to stay in that sleepy state.
08.
When I was a really young kid, I had a serious case of epiglottitis, which left me clinically dead for a moment. It felt like a dream where I was in the sky, kinda like an angel/cupid looking down at myself in the hospital, with doctors and nurses surrounding me, my mother crying. I didn't seem to care very much, but I remember thinking that I want to go back.
I was very young (maybe 3), but I still remember this quite vividly, it seemed like an out-of-body experience. For sure this was influenced by the fact that my parents are catholic and I enjoyed looking at cupids in paintings, because they looked a bit like me when I was young. That's at least what I tell myself.
07.
My dad clinically died for over a minute as a result of an iodine drip during a procedure, despite a documented severe iodine allergy. He described it as an out of body experience in which there was complete silence and he was the spectator in the upper corner of the room, watching the staff scramble to revive him. He said he had no concept of time or of the panic below, he just observed in total peace. He saw one nurse (finally) notice his bracelet and alert everyone of what the issue was. They cut the drip and continued their efforts to revive him.
During this time, even though he was watching the end of his life, he felt an extreme peace, and was pain free for the first time in years. He was aware that he was dying, and he was ready and content. Everything got bright and he started to float upwards, until he saw a man that he didn't recognize who told him it wasn't his time yet.
All at once, he was jolted back into his body and came to. Once stable, he described what he witnessed and even thanked the particular nurse that noticed his allergy alert bracelet. They were all baffled that he knew such detail.
I can only hope that when he did pass away four years ago, it was an even more peaceful experience than this. It gives me peace knowing death was something that he had faced already, so he wasn't scared of it when it came again.
06.
I was hit by a car while riding a bicycle without a helmet when I was 17. I suffered a traumatic brain injury including a brain bleed which led to a condition called status epilepticus. Not dead, but close. My heart worked, but I was without oxygen for a long time. I woke up in the hospital nearly two weeks later in severe pain - I had one hell of a headache.
I had a weird recollection of a dream-like state where I dreamed in 8 bit - kinda like Mario? Except it was a field of flowers and a bunny rabbit. It was quiet. I felt nothing. I was riding my bike one minute...and completely gone the next. It was a traumatic event I still have issues with nearly 15 years later.
05.
I nearly drowned in the ocean as a kid. A lifeguard on his very first day of training saw me thrashing from 1/4 mile away and was able to get to me after I had filled my lungs with saltwater and sank. I do remember him gripping my arm before completely blacking out (drowning, btw, is a very comfy way to go, after the struggle and convulsive intake of water, there is a warm serenity...).
With my heart and lungs stopped, I was pronounced "dead" on the beach by trained lifeguards but they kept up the CPR until the paramedics came and shocked me back to "life".
To this day I remember everything, both physically and mentally about the incident vividly - way way clearer than any other childhood memory. But the period I was pronounced to be "dead" was a black hole of non-conscious nothingness.
*So this is kind of interesting: the scariest thing during the whole incident was after I was shocked back to "life" and was too weak to move, I could feel the paramedic undoing the drawstring of my shorts - "OH MY GOD, HE'S GOING TO SHOW EVERYONE MY PEEPEE!!!" my feeble brain registered, before I once again blacked out.
04.
Coded after attempting suicide with Ativan (which is stupid.) My son had passed away three years before, and I remember going to a place without time and watching him grow up without the neonatal Marfan syndrome and hydrocephalus that killed him. I should point out that I lost consciousness before code was called, so I don't remember rising out of my body. I do remember slamming back into it after being shocked, though. That was no fun.
My life changed completely afterwards. I left my wife, who wasn't helping me in my own struggles with Marfan syndrome, got the guts to come out as trans and found a great woman who supports me and is totally in love with me. I don't worry about anything but love and taking care of the people around me-life is too short for anything else. A visit with my son sorted it all out.
I experienced watching my son grow from two to adulthood. I had full memories of milestones and everything in between. Not to mention a sense of peace I had been missing since his death. Most of all I felt that I was accepted for who I am. It's hard to explain losing consciousness wanting to die and waking up having a reason to live.
03.
When I was 9 I used to have fainting spells. One time I fell down the stairs and lost consciousness. My mom said I went as stiff as a board. I remember, as if floating near the ceiling, watching my mom run to the phone and calling 911. I could see my dad start to do CPR on me. Then I looked behind me and saw a bright light and heard a voice say "it's not your time".
Then I went back into my body as I heard my dad yell "come on, damn it!" I was really scared when I came to, and it took me a while, like years, to figure out what I had experienced. I can't explain what happened. I felt calm though while I was out. I don't know if I was really dead or just unconscious and my mind made it all up. The other story I have I know was real.
02.
I remember medics banging on my chest telling me not to give up, I remember hearing everything everyone was saying. I even remember thinking dude stop hitting my chest. I remember being put in the ambulance and being in the emergency room.
When I told my mom later that I heard all of them and remember everything, she told me there was no way I could have because I was completely unresponsive when they found me..it definitely had a profound effect on me. It's made me actually more afraid of death because I personally believe your brain lives long after after your body stops. Which is extremely terrifying.
01.
I've died twice this year. It was much like time travel. One minute I was, then I wasn't, then I was again. No sense of time really, I could have been dead for 1 second or 1 century. There was a sense of confusion and time slowing down as I died, then just nothing.
People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves
Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'
Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.
Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.
For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.
I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.
My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.
Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.
It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:
"Give an example; how weird are you really?"
Monsters Under My Bed
"My bed doesn't touch any wall."
"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."
– Practical_Eye_3600
"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."
– bikergirlr7
"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"
– zenOFiniquity8
Can You See Why?
"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."
– KingBooRadley
Remember
"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."
– AquamarineCheetah
"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."
"Makes me think my "memory is full.""
– Reasonable-Pirate902
Same, Same
"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."
– OhhGoood
"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"
– notmyrealnam3
Not Sure Who Was Weirder
"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."
– Frostygrunt
Imagination
"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."
– RandomSharinganUser
"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."
– Kolkeia
If Only
"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."
– ShotCompetition2593
Pet Food
"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."
– drummerskillit
"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."
– Isitjustmedownhere
"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."
– -GateKeep-
My Favorite Subject
"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."
"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."
"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."
"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."
"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."
"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."
– Phormicidae
*Teeth Chatter*
"I bite ice cream sometimes."
– RedditbOiiiiiiiiii
"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."
– monobarreller
Never Speak Of This
"I put ice in my milk."
– GTFOakaFOD
"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."
– We-R-Doomed
"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."
– RatonaMuffin
More Than Super Hearing
"I can hear the television while it's on mute."
– Tira13e
"What does it say to you, child?"
– Mama_Skip
Yikes!
"I put mustard on my omelettes."
– Deleted User
"Oh."
– NotCrustOr-filling
Evened Up
"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."
"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."
– LesPaltaX
"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."
– MoonlightKayla
I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!
People Explain Which Overly Hyped Foods They Just Don't Understand
We all have our favorite foods, food preferences, and even foods that we don't like.
But there are some popular foods out there that just don't make sense. Nonetheless, we keep seeing them advertised, included in movies and TV shows, and of course, our loved ones ordering them while we look on in confusion.
Curious about others' food preferences, Redditor YarnSpectre asked:
"What's one food everyone seems to go crazy for, but you just don't understand the hype?"
So Much Sugar
"Nutella. It’s just okay."
- Former-Finnish-4653
"Way too sweet for me, I’d probably love it with one-fifth of the sugar."
"Unfortunately that's true of a lot of desserts, though. Most would benefit from a cut of at least 25 percent of the sugar."
- Mindful-O-Melancholy
Not-So-Chocolate Cake
"Red velvet cake. I've had ones that were supposed to be excellent but it's just red cake."
- dedmuse22
"Most red velvet cakes are just s**tty vanilla cake with red food coloring. Get one (or make one) the correct way with non-Dutch-processed cocoa powder, buttermilk, and vinegar. It's an incredibly smooth, very different type of chocolate cake."
- whiskeyclone630
Mastery Makes a Difference
"Those multicolored cookie things that everyone was making into cakes or something for a while? Macaroons? Macarons? I don't think I've ever had one that tasted good. They're pretty, but that's it."
- TensionShift9576
"Macarons. I never cared for them either."
"I had one yesterday at a potluck, homemade ones. They were seriously something else, with some sort of butter cream and jelly inside. Never had anything quite like it. Now I wish I had grabbed a few to take home."
"I still won't eat store-bought ones, though."
- Totally-A-Banana
The Wrong Kind of Spice
"Hot Cheetos or Takis. Anything with the artificially colored spicy powder."
- jadziasonrie
"Takis texture is my issue. They’re like semi-stale rolled-up Doritos."
- addvalue2222
The Sugar Cookies of the Midwest
"Those dry-a** Walmart sugar cookies."
- ComiNotub
"They taste like play-dough cookies came to life."
- Significant_Potato29
For Garnish
"I mean, people go crazy in both directions, but cilantro. There’s the whole 'does it taste like soap or not' thing, but it’s usually presented as 'people either think it tastes like soap or they find it amazing.'"
"I am neither. It doesn’t taste like soap to me, but I also don’t love it. Meh."
- Whiteums
"I don't think it tastes like soap, but I do think it tastes weirdly metallic. I don't go out of my way to avoid it in pre-prepared food, but I usually leave it out of things I'm preparing myself."
- caffeinated-tea
Fancy Decor Only
"People like how fondant LOOKS. I refuse to believe a single soul wants to EAT it."
- sorandom21
"It's like eating a candied raincoat."
- BlueShirtGuy
Back for a Limited Time
"Every time it comes back, I’m SUPER excited for the McRib at McDonald's. I bite into one and then… the spongey texture hits me and makes me remember why I don’t need to buy it ever again."
"Then, somehow, McRib season rolls around again two years later, and there I am in line…"
- the_yellow_jello
"I'm convinced this is why they only bring it out every once in a while. Nobody actually likes it, but they wait just long enough for you to forget that it's no good and then hit you with a combo of nostalgia and 'limited time only' FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)."
- FiveAlarmFrancis
A Seasonal Tradition
"Pumpkin spice. It’s fine, but absolutely not anything to make a fuss about."
- AdMaterial9419
"There is a car parts place in a small town I drive through to visit family, and last year on their reader board, they had: 'THEYRE BACK! PUMPKIN SPICE BRAKE PADS.'"
"And now I can never see anything pumpkin spice and not think about it, might have been my favorite reader board sign ever."
- deadcomefebruary
Pure Caffeine Addiction
"Energy drinks like Red Bull or Monster."
- DishIntelligent5645
"I'm an avid Monster drinker, but I totally get it. I'm always trying new and interesting energy drinks I see, but so much of it is just garbage."
"The white Monster tastes like 90s Fresca to me and is the only energy drink I love."
- broniesnstuff
Overly-Complicated Drinks
"Can it be a beverage? Because I kind of hate IPAs but everyone else seems to love them. And I like beer, just not IPAs."
- AngelOvTeOdd
"I have nothing against people who want complex beers. It's just not for me. I want an easy as f**k to drink fizzy yellow beer for when it's hot out. And a nice smooth stout for all other times. When I want more complex flavors, I'll go for wine or scotch."
- I_will_be_me_Arsenal
Just Too Expensive
"What about lobster? I can dig it with drawn butter and I ain’t mad at it. But f**k me if I’m gonna pay $29.99 for a lobster. I’d rather eat shrimp."
- nosaj23e
Questionable Value
"Truffles. I paid $60 this weekend at an Italian restaurant for eight slivers on my pasta shaved in front of me. I barely tasted anything. I don't get the hype."
- heybuddy
Improved Gut Health?
"Kombucha."
- Tiny_Wasabi2476
"Ah, yes, dirty pond water."
- meteorguy
Rich Tastes
"Caviar."
- malYca
"Everyone goes crazy for caviar? Most people seem to dislike it."
"Though admittedly, people who do like it tend to like it a lot."
"That all being said, I really don't like it, either."
- Heathen_Mushroom
When it comes to food, to each their own, but it was interesting to see some undeniable fan favorites like pumpkin spice hit this list.
It just serves as a great reminder for a larger picture idea: Don't be unkind about the things that might bring someone else joy.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
In 2017, I returned to my office after my lunch break to hear my supervisors discussing Tom Petty. This seemed like a random topic to me until one of my supervisors told me Tom Petty had passed away. He was a huge fan of Petty and spent the next hour or so combing through the internet to get more information.
He came back into the room my other supervisor and I were working in and announced that Tom Petty wasn't dead after all. News outlets had jumped the gun to announce his death, but he was actually still alive.
The next day, I came in to find out that Tom Petty was dead; the news may have been premature, but true.
This is a classic example of the rumor being started on the internet. Sometimes, like with the news of Tom Petty's death, the rumor can run wild and appear everywhere. Other times, the rumor can be seen by just a few people and dismissed. However, a lot of times, these rumors turn out to be true.
Redditors know a lot of internet rumors that turned out to be true, and are eager to share.
It all started when Redditor strakerak asked:
"What started out as an internet rumor that ended up being infamously true?"
The King Of Pop
"Michael Jackson writing the music for Sonic 3."
"He actually did, but was never credited on the game because it would breach his contract with his record label."
– -WigglyLine-
"He did the same when he appeared on The Simpsons. He appeared under a pseudonym, and the Producers said it was an impersonator."
"Only years later they confirmed it really was Michael."
"His singing voice was actually done by an impersonator, though."
– given2fly_
The Truth Comes Out
"In 1998, US Men’s National Team captain John Harkes was shockingly cut from the team right before the World Cup. The coach claimed it was because Harkes wouldn’t fit into his new preferred formation, but rumors flew on the early internet that it was actually because he had slept with his teammate Eric Wynalda’s wife. The rumor was so well-known in soccer circles that Harkes expressly denied it in his autobiography the next year."
"Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and Wynalda admits it’s true. The coach then came out and admitted it was why he dropped Harkes, but that he’d planned to keep the secret as long as Wynalda did."
– guyfromsoccer
Video Evidence
"The Tim Burton Hansel and Gretel that aired once on halloween in the 80's."
"I heard for years that it was fake but I knew it was real because my dad recorded everything in the 80s and he recorded that. We let a good friend of ours borrow it and switch it over from VHS to DVD and soon after that it made its way on to the internet , and there it is now. I know it's our copy because the tracking in the beginning is screwed up. Still have the VHS."
– Frozenthickness
"There was a similar story with a Nickelodeon movie called Cry Baby Lane. It was supposed to be so scary that Nickelodeon got complaints and denied its existence for years. Someone uploaded a taped copy to youtube about a decade ago."
– PattiAllen
The Movie Business
"That North Korea hacked Sony Pictures because of The Interview movie."
"I worked in the movie business at the time and the account managers at Sony all basically needed to get new identities as all of their personal information got leaked online."
– OldMastodon5363
"My partner worked on that movie and the production bought all the crew 1 year of an identity theft tracking service."
– CMV_Viremia
Keep Away From The Ears Of Kids
"Some banned episodes or scenes of cartoons."
"For example, I remember there was a Dexter’s Lab cartoon where he clones evil versions of DeDe and himself and they swear like every other word (censored of course), and people debated whether it even existed cause they only aired it like once. Now it’s pretty accessible online."
– Spledidlife
Yes, It's True
"Echelon, a massive electronic espionage system by the US and allies to intercept all electronic messages, especially emails."
"In the mid-nineties it was a topic on conspiracy BBS boards. A lot of people in my bubble at the time (mainly uni students in Europe) were including fake threats to the US in the their email signatures as a way to "protest" and "fill the system with false alarms" (obviously useless)."
"Then, in 1999-2000 came out to be true and a lot of security service agencies from UK and other US allies started to admit they were part of the espionage network."
– latflickr
How The Mighty Fell
"John Edward’s love child."
– ACam574
"A reminder that he was cheating on his wife while she was hospitalized for cancer treatment."
– Fanclock314
Ugh...
"Carrie Fisher's heart attack. Some a**hole who was on the same flight was livetweeting the whole medical emergency and justified it by insisting she was just making sure the family was informed."
– everylastlight
It Actually Happened
"Every year around her birthday there was a rumor that Betty White died. When I heard she died, I scoffed, saying that dumb rumor is back.... then saw it on the news. I was in shock."
– Known-Committee8679
"The fact that Betty died literally right before she turned 100 is such a Betty White way to go out."
– Paganigsegg
Big Actor, Small Roles
"I distinctly remember some rumors about the reason why Bruce Willis was taking so many roles in sh*tty movies before it was announced he has dementia."
– KampferMann
"RedLetterMedia did a deep dive on his recent movie activity to try and work out why exactly he was taking part in basically scam-movies. They noticed he had an earpiece in one of the scenes and joked that the director was feeding him lines. I remember they even disclaimed over the rumours at the time, and possible made a follow-up vid when it was revealed to the public."
– CardinalCreepia
What To Do Next?
"That the writer of LOST were making it up as they went."
"Turned out to be absolutely true."
– homarjr
That last one was kind of obvious!
Do you have any to add? Let us know in the comment below.