Do our souls know when we're going to pass away?

[SwiftieGrainger]

Please, please do not read on if you find themes of loss or bereavement triggering. This is hopefully intended to be light hearted as a thread. I'm just wondering if anyone believes we subconsciously know when we or people close to us are going to pass away?

I am not hugely superstitious and I have no real view or opinion on the afterlife that makes me more susceptible to taking on such beliefs but I think I do. I was at work and for absolutely no reason at all as I heated up my pasta, I felt the need to call my dad's uncle. We rarely speak- he's an absolutely wonderful old man, but I have never called him in my life. I just did it without any real thought and I could not tell you why. It was lovely, just a light hearted chat that I found time for in my day but hugely unlike me. He peacefully passed away in his sleep the next day and I'm so glad I called. I'm also really glad that somehow the phone call happened when I'm usually so busy at work I don't even respond to texts. It's made me really happy tbh to know he knew I was thinking of him before he went, has anyone else had similar experiences?

Yabu - death is random and we can't know it on a cellular level
Yanbu - this is a common phenomenon

I think dying of a broken heart implies that the stress of grief can hurry death along because stress can knock your body off kilter leading you to get Ill. Happened to my grandad when my nan passed away after 50 years of marriage. His health took a turn suddenly and he died months later.

I totally believe as I've had experiences like this more than once

I've had a similar experience.

The feeling was weird and made absolutely no sense. I couldn't shake it off.

Yanbu

@YoureALizardHarry11 I agree.
Similar story for us. Nana was poorly for years, she eventually died and my perfectly fit and well grandad was diagnosed with cancer 4 weeks later, and died 2 weeks after that. 6 weeks apart after 50 years of marriage was enough for him.

I woke up in the early hours having spent the night dreaming about a friend. I decided to message him and tell him we needed to stop being coy, and that I was falling for him. I was going to tell him the night before but chickened out.

I picked up my phone to see a message from another mutual friend telling me he had died. Maybe my heart/soul knew in a way but my anxiety took over. I wish I'd been brave enough to tell him. I don't know.

My parents were divorced and I lived with my mum when I was younger. One day, I knew that my father had died, before I was told that he had died.

I went to sleep, and I dreamt that my father was a person filled with glowing light. He was showing me in the dream that he had gone on to a higher reality. I knew he was telling me he had died.

I woke up and I said to my mum " dad's died in sure if it , I know".

We were told later that day, that he had died

That should say "dad's died I'm sure if it. I know"

Yes, me too! I knew when my Dad had died, I just had a 'feeling', rang DM and he'd gone a couple of minutes before I called. However, we knew he was going to die so I highly doubt there was any woo involved. Then again, I was reading about Ian Curtis's life and both his mum and auntie woke up at the same time in the middle of the night with an odd feeling on the night he hung himself. Who knows...

Google Takotsubo cardiomyopathy @JustKen .

My Mum’s friend was convinced that my Mum knew she was going to die as the day before she died, Mum was insistent that her friend took a kitchen stool from her flat which she wanted her to have. Mum didn’t want to wait till the next day in daylight but made her very slight 75 year old friend walk along the road in the dark carrying this big blue stool.

Mum has been ill but was on the mend and her death was unexpected.

No idea but lucky him passing away peacefully in his sleep. Hope we're all as lucky.

I’m not a big believer but after working in a nursing home, a lot (not all) of the residents know when they are about to pass away and the more experienced nurses and carers seem to be able to sense it.
one I also remember was having a chat with a resident about my pregnancy and she told me ‘if she makes it’ but she didn’t say in a horrible way just a factual and sad way. The resident died the next day and I had a miscarriage a few days later. I think she knew. It was so out of character for her to say something like that.

One of my biggest regrets was not calling my elderly auntie, the night before she died unexpectedly, I felt compelled to call her. But I was tired, been working that day, then sorting out getting my boys to bed, and just run out of time. I thought I would call her in the morning, as it was late. She died during the night, aneurysm. So wished I had called her.

I saw my grandad the day before he died and knew he was going to die. Two other relatives were discussing who should visit the next day, and I said to my dad (out of their hearing) that they didn’t need to. He looked at me with interest and said “do you think not?” and I replied no.

I was a young adult and it was the only time I think I’ve visited anyone who was close to death. It seems quite uncanny now, because I actually felt strongly enough to tell my dad what I was thinking.

So I don’t know about the distance thing (though we know so little about what actually happens when people die that I wouldn’t rule anything out) but certainly we do sometimes pick up on the fact that someone is about to die, even if we’re not sure what it was we picked up on.

I have had similar experiences a few times. A beloved uncle who was still relatively young and healthy called our house one Christmas Eve. I had an overwhelming urge to speak to him and was told no because we were eating dinner and we'd see him at New Year. He died a few days later. My father was going to visit my Grandma and suddenl I desperately wanted see her and begged to go but wasn't allowed and she died the next day. Then once I had a call from my mother's phone and started crying and when I picked it up before he spoke I said "hello <step father's name>, aunt <X> is dead isn't she?". He's never called me from my mother's phone before or since, and my aunt hadn't been ill. I have no idea how I could have known.

@Daffidale yep, it's got a name, 'sense of impending doom' we call it in maternity care, and if a woman tells us that, we believe her!!

This happened to me once. Said goodbye to a relative and started crying uncontrollably at the doorstep, just felt inexplicably emotionally overwhelmed. It was so strange.

Said relative became ill shortly after this and died of cancer some months later, i never saw them again after the doorstep incident. Was a very beautiful soul so it was very sad when she died.

I’ve never really thought about it but similar happened with my dad.

My dad was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and was given just 6 months to live.

He lived out his remaining months at home, with my mum, my siblings and I.

I think we were in denial for most of his remaining life and we pretended he was going to get better.

Towards the very end he couldn’t speak and his eyes stayed closed, but the nurse said he could hear us.

We were a big family and we also had Macmillan nurses so dad was never left alone. One night I stayed up to talk to him, to tell him what a great childhood he gave us, how much I loved him and how much I would miss him. The morning he had passed away.

I’m not sure why I chose that night, but it was comforting to think my dad heard he was loved before he passed.

Anecdotally cats and dogs are supposed to know when they are close to death and will go off to die alone if they can. Out 23 year old cat did this, having not moved from a few square metres where she had based herself for days, she suddenly got up walked to the back door, went out and was walking down to the bottom of the garden. I thought she was confused so picked her up and she died in my arms. So if animals know on some level why not humans? We are animals too.

I have felt physically unwell when close relatives have died - like having a really bad hangover. I can remember feeling so bad at work once that I lay down in the back of my car during my lunch hour only to find out later that my grandad had died out of the blue (heart attack). I had never crashed out in my car before or since..

Not a personal experience, but I remember reading in Ian Curtis' biography that both his mum and aunt (or possibly grandma) had vivid dreams about him the night he killed himself.

I have known a few times that people were going to die. Creepiest one was a young pet in perfectly good health, suddenly thought "wouldn't it be weird if he died tomorrow", the next day I went downstairs and pet had died in the night. People say I must have picked up on pet being poorly, but he was eating fine, drinking fine, playing, using the toilet fine etc.

When my dad was in hospital, dying with cancer.
I went outside for a ciggie and heard a voice in my head, saying go back to your sister, who was sitting with him.
Just as i got back to his room. He squeezed my hand, then died.

I've had things like this happen and absolutely believe it's confirmation bias and until someone explains what a soul is, I don't believe humans have one. The explanations I've heard usually describe a consciousness, that comes from the brain and dies with us.

I do think a lot of people know when they're dying because it becomes obvious when the doctors are telling you you're going to die, you're extremely old, your body isn't really working anymore, your heart rate slows right down, etc. but I don't believe other people 'sense' it.

I read a lot about this after my dad died. I think it was my way of trying to process what had happened.

One thing I read was that sometimes, the person might get very stressed about needing to make contact with others. The week before he died, dad suddenly decided they needed a new landline phone. They really didn't, but he was absolutely insistent. I humoured him and bought him one that never ended up getting installed. Who knows.

The last time I spoke to my dad he kept on saying "I'm glad my girls (me and mum) are here." I knew at this point. He died 48 hours later.