Satwant Pasricha

Satwant Pasricha
Known forReincarnation research, Near-death experience research
Scientific career
FieldsClinical Psychology
InstitutionsNIMHANS

Satwant Pasricha is the head of Department of Clinical Psychology at NIMHANS, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences at Bangalore.[1] She also worked for a time at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in the USA.[2] Pasricha investigates reincarnation[3] and near-death experiences.[4] Pasricha co-authored the 2011 book Making sense of near-death experiences, which was Highly Commended in the Psychiatry category at the 2012 British Medical Association Book Awards.[5]

Work

Pasricha has investigated and participated in about 500 cases of reincarnation involving children (referred to as subjects) since 1973 who claim to remember previous lives. She became interested in working in parapsychology because she was not satisfied with the conventional explanations of certain paranormal or unusual behavior.[6]

Pasricha studies not just the characteristics of reincarnation prevalent in India, but also suggests ways they are similar or different from those of people in other countries.[4] She collaborated with Ian Stevenson in reincarnation research beginning in the 1970s.[7]

She joined NIMHANS (Deemed University) as a faculty in December 1980 as a lecturer in Clinical Parapsychology; and then was promoted to Assistant professor, Associate professor and Additional Professor of Clinical Psychology. She is also involved in clinical work such as patient care and teaching and research in the areas of her interest at NIMHANS.[6]

Prof. Satwant Pasricha of the Maulana Azad Medical College appreciates her work on the subject, but he also places not verifiable truth like "rebirth" and “reincarnation” out of the domain of the scientific knowledge. Many other scientists label them as a hallucinatory experience and as "a physiological state occurring within an oxygen starved brain."[8]

Selected publications

  • Satwant Pasricha, Can the Mind Survive Beyond Death? In Pursuit of Scientific Evidence (2 Vol.), New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 2008. ISBN 81-86622-93-4.
  • Satwant Pasricha, Claims of Reincarnation: An Empirical Study of Cases in India, New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 1990. ISBN 81-85151-27-X.
  • Satwant Pasricha, Near-Death Experiences in South India: A Systematic Survey. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 9(1), 1995.
  • Ian Stevenson, Satwant Pasricha and Nicholas McClean-Rice, A Case of the Possession Type in India With Evidence of Paranormal Knowledge. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 3(1):81-101, 1989.

See also

References

  1. ^ K. Sekar, et al., Tsunami: Psychosocial care for individuals & families[permanent dead link‍], January 2005, p. 7. Accessed 2009-01-27.
  2. ^ David Barker and Satwant Pasricha. Reincarnation Cases in Fatehabad: A Systematic Survey of North India Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 14, No. 3-4, 1979, p. 231.
  3. ^ NIMHANS doctor attempts to prove life after death, Rediff on the NeT, July 30, 1998. Accessed 2009-01-27.
  4. ^ a b M D Riti, To Hell, and Back, Rediff on the NeT, April 6, 1999. Accessed 2009-01-27.
  5. ^ S Pasricha; DJ Wilde; M Perera; K Jagadheesan (2011). Making sense of near-death experiences: A handbook for clinicians. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9780857003423.
  6. ^ a b Satwant Pasricha, The Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. Accessed 2009-01-27.
  7. ^ Ian Stevenson, Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997, p. 59. ISBN 0-275-95189-8.
  8. ^ R. C. Jiloha (April 1, 2014). "Relevance of parapsychology in psychiatric practice: Response to Dr. R. C. Jiloha's comments". Indian J Psychiatry. 56 (2): 208. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.130517. PMC 4040079. PMID 24891719.