Beloved Lea,
I would opine that both the OBE and the NDE are, technically, the same; however, it is my experience that what initiates the movement of those events are different, especially from person to person. On the surface, I would say that the OBE is more a concentrated effort by the entity wishing to experience it, whereas the NDE is often experienced, for simplicity sake, outside the immediately objective conciousness of the entity involved.
To simplify: I have OBEs because I can consciously precipitate them. I can have an NDE, but it is most likely the result of a secondary set of events -- a car accident, a heart attack, etc.
I see no real difference in the state of the person -- what proceeds the catalyst -- as necessarily different from one to another, as they are both leading to different state of awareness. It is only my experience that tells me that the belief of the person involved will determine the outcome of how the event is experienced.
E.