What science says about it (and what it doesn’t yet explain):
Far from superstition, several teams of researchers have attempted to understand this premonition. While medicine can predict certain outcomes, it still lacks an explanation for cases where the feeling of an imminent goodbye seems to come out of nowhere.
A study conducted by the University of Kent has focused on a surprising aspect: our sense of smell. Yes, our noses could, without us even realizing it, pick up certain signals associated with the end of life. One of the chemical compounds studied is called putrescine – a somewhat technical term for a substance released at the beginning of the decomposition process.
Participants exposed to this odor reacted with an immediate sense of unease, without necessarily knowing why. It seems that it is our brain, in its deepest recesses, that subconsciously associates certain odors with a dangerous situation… or an imminent end.
When emotions become messengers:
But it’s not just the physical body that speaks: our emotions can also be true barometers. A sudden deep melancholy, an intense need to say goodbye, an unusual inner peace… These signs, often invisible to others, can be perceived as a form of harmony between the heart and the soul. It’s almost as if, internally, everything is preparing to make way for something else.
For loved ones, these moments are sometimes difficult to hear, but they can also become precious opportunities to exchange, tell each other things, and share one last time what really matters.
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