The recent article by Mashour et al. on consciousness and the dying brain caught my eye, as I have had such a personal experience.1
Once I suffered from gastro-esophageal reflux after eating spicy meals. I occasionally experienced bile reflux during my sleep, would wake up coughing, and observed the pillow next to my face was wet with green gastric fluid. One night, the same happened again, and I developed total laryngospasm. I could not cough or breathe. I got out of bed and stood facing the bed, leaning onto it with my hands. I was vividly awake and realized I was in a serious situation with total laryngospasm. Soon, my feelings of panic soothingly switched into feelings of indescribable calmness and pleasure. It was an experience unmatched by anything in my life before. I felt peace, calmness, contentment, satisfaction, happiness, and joy, all to a high degree for...
