After-Death Communication (ADC)

What are ADCs?

See also section After-Death Communication Research project [active link]

An After-Death Communication (ADC) occurs when a person unexpectedly perceives a deceased individual. These contacts are perceived through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, or smell. Often, the recipient—the person experiencing the ADC—simply senses the presence of the deceased. ADCs occur while awake, asleep, falling asleep (in a hypnagogic state of consciousness), or waking up (in a hypnopompic state of consciousness).

ADCs are:

How Do ADCs Manifest?

ADCs manifest in different forms and under a wide range of circumstances. They may be perceived through four of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, or smell (taste is not involved). ADCs involving "sensing a presence" are common, where the recipient feels the familiar presence of the deceased but cannot see, hear, touch, or smell them.

These contacts are much more than a simple perception of the deceased, which in itself is already an unexpected and striking experience. Recipients report that they have also grasped the deceased's intention — that is, their wish to inform them that they continue to exist and are well, as well as their desire to make them feel the love they have for them and the comfort they wish to bring them. The modality of making contact, namely the type of ADC, is in itself not very important because it is only the medium for the essential element which is the information transmitted.

ADCs occur when the recipient is awake, asleep, falling asleep (in a hypnagogic state), or waking up (in a hypnopompic state). ADCs during sleep are very common. These contacts are clear, coherent, memorable, and perceived as real. They do not have the complex, symbolic, and fragmented nature of dreams, which are often quickly forgotten upon waking. Although recipients often cannot say whether or not they woke up during the experience, they consistently specify "It was completely different from a dream; it was much more real."

Very often, several sensory organs are involved simultaneously. For example, a recipient may hear a deceased person communicate that they are alive and watching over them, while also perceiving the scent of the aftershave they used to wear. The vast majority of survey participants (80%) had multiple ADCs, with the same or different deceased persons. The contact is usually brief—lasting only seconds or a few minutes—but its impact on recipients is profound and lasting.

ADCs involving unexplained physical phenomena are very common. Recipients interpret these events as signs from their deceased loved ones. Common manifestations include lights turning on, off, or flickering for no apparent reason; televisions or mechanical objects activating spontaneously; or music players starting to play songs with special meaning for the recipient. Numerous reports describe watches and clocks stopping at the moment of death. Objects such as photos or images may be returned, found on the floor, or moved. Unidentified and recurring sounds at night are also frequently reported.

ADCs occurring at the moment of death are especially striking, as the recipient is informed of a family member's or friend's passing directly by the recently deceased person himself or herself. While awake or during a nocturnal awakening, the recipient hears or sees the deceased announcing their death with serenity, sometimes even with joy ("I've come to say goodbye, I'm leaving now"). The verb "to leave" is often used, as if the deceased were preparing to embark on a journey. These experiences, which occur at the exact moment of death—an event that often takes place at a distance—precede the official announcement of the death (by the hospital, the family, etc.). In some cases, the deaths were not predictable, as the person was neither ill nor elderly and died, for example, in an accident.

How Common Are ADCs?

Perceiving the deceased seems to be an inherent human ability. Reports of spontaneous after-death communications have been collected on all continents and seem to extend as far back as historical records can take us into the past. Perhaps the earliest of all recorded ADCs purportedly occurred in 1963 BCE in ancient Egypt (Bourke, 2024).

ADCs are common, with an estimated prevalence of 50-60% of people experiencing one or more ADC during their lifetime. Given the frequency and nature of these experiences, it is time to move away from labelling them as anomalous, unusual, exceptional, or paranormal—and instead recognize them for what they are—common, normal, and healthy human experiences. It is important to normalize these contacts, so that recipients can share them freely with others, if they so wish, without fear of being stigmatized in any way. As long as ADCs remain a hidden phenomenon—experienced by many but rarely discussed in the media or public discourse— it will be difficult for individuals to talk about their own experience. This must change, as we can all benefit from these positive, enriching, and transformative experiences.

The Challenge of Disclosing an ADC

It is not always easy to share an ADC with family and friends. There are many reasons for this, the most common being the fear of not being believed, or even of being ridiculed. Given how emotionally powerful a spontaneous contact with a deceased person can be, a skeptical reaction from the interlocutor may be hurtful for recipients, as expressed by one of our survey participant (see ADC Research Project [Lien active nouvelle section “Projet de recherche”):
“I shared [the ADC] with my two sons and two other family members, but I did not feel that I was truly heard. It left me with a sense of frustration and profound loneliness.” (Woman, perceived her deceased father).
If the interlocutors have themselves experienced a similar phenomenon, sharing an ADC naturally becomes much easier:
“I spoke to my husband immediately afterward. He believed me straight away, since he had had a similar experience as a child. I am deeply grateful to him. As for others, I tried to talk to them, but unfortunately it was of no use—they did not believe me.” (Woman, perceived her deceased former partner).
All too often, ADCs are still dismissed as illusions—or even hallucinations—produced by individuals profoundly affected by the loss of a loved one. In other words, these experiences are assumed to be unconscious compensatory mechanisms arising from grief. Our data challenge this assumption, since 27% of our survey participants were either no longer grieving or had never grieved the deceased they perceived during the contact.
Sometimes the experience is offered as a gift to someone, who, nevertheless, may reject it:
“I shared my ADC with my mother, who knew she was dying, in order to reassure her. I don’t think she believed me—or truly listened—which is a shame…” (Woman, perceived her deceased boyfriend).
Some people choose to keep their ADC private, as it is too personal and intimate to share:
“It was just between the deceased and me—a very intimate moment—I didn’t feel the need to share it with anyone. That moment was simply our moment—we’ve had others in our lives—and it is very precious to me!” (Woman, perceived her deceased sister).
With 50 to 60% of people experiencing one or more ADCs during their lifetime, these experiences are clearly not marginal but constitute a major societal phenomenon. A central aim of our ADC research project is to foster the normalization of these profoundly beneficial experiences, enabling recipients to share them without fear of ridicule or being dismissed as mere grief-induced illusions.

Impact of ADCs on Bereavement

ADCs often provide recipients with comfort, joy, and psychological resources that enable them to continue their lives with confidence following the loss of a loved one. They regularly report a sustained sense of being loved and cared for, as the departed family member or friend appears to watch over them and support them from another dimension. Love seems to have survived death. These elements constitute a powerful source of consolation.

Indeed, one of the key findings of our survey [link New section ADC project] is the powerful effect of ADCs on the grieving process. A majority of respondents - 73% - report that their experiences brought them emotional healing. ADCs are far more than simple perceptions of the deceased; they offer recipients a crucial insight: the contact does not signify a final farewell or a last expression of love. ADCs allow recipients to become aware that our deceased loved ones continue to exist in a dimension unknown to us, and that communication with them remains possible.

The essential information inherent in the very occurrence of an ADC, together with the messages perceived, fosters a strong subjective conviction that the loved one has survived bodily death and continues to exist in a state of well-being. The profound meaning and transformative power of ADCs arise both from the information conveyed through their occurrence and messages, and from the intense positive emotions experienced by recipients.

Mourning involves accepting the permanent physical absence of loved ones, an extremely important—and perhaps the most challenging—step in the grieving process. It also entails fully realizing that the bond with our deceased loved ones has not been severed by physical death; on the contrary, it endures, albeit in a transformed and metamorphosed form. ADCs fit perfectly into this awareness, as they represent a rare and precious materialization of this continuing bond. These experiences offer a brief and exceptional glimpse of another reality, made possible by the materialization that the deceased appear to have achieved in order to manifest themselves in rare and precious moments.

One could refer to the image of a veil: the deceased are on the other side, very close, as if we were all living under the same roof and they had simply stepped into the next room. ADCs, like other death-related phenomena, lift this veil slightly—but in a very rare and fleeting way.

Advice from the deceased, encouraging the bereaved not to grieve excessively and to continue their lives with confidence, while anticipating a future reunion, plays a central role in the grieving process. In this respect, ADCs are inherently therapeutic, as they respond to the needs of the bereaved.

However, it is important to emphasize that ADCs do not spare recipients from going through the grieving process—a long and painful journey that moves in disorder and turmoil through denial, anger, depression, and guilt, ultimately leading to the acceptance of the loved one's definitive physical departure. It should also be emphasized that these experiences do not always—or entirely—alleviate the sadness associated with the loved one's permanent physical absence.

Once the irrevocability of the deceased's physical departure is understood and accepted, the time has come to become fully aware of the enduring inner bond with them and of the transformed and metamorphosed relationship that will persist, unbreakable forever. Importantly, this bond does not simply mirror the relationship as it existed at the time of death. On the contrary, it seems to evolve and sometimes even strengthen after the loss of the loved one, as if what once separated them—ego, difficulties, sometimes conflicts—had been swept away by physical death, allowing their relationship to be restored in the essence of the love that unites them. Testimonies from our survey suggest that reconciliation beyond death is possible, and that it is never too late to understand, make amends, forgive and be forgiven, and express love.

ADCs are uplifting experiences, filled with affection and compassion, which ease the grief of the bereaved. Recipients regard the events as real, adjust their belief systems accordingly, and, at best, discover new meaning in life and death.