Hell is a teaching tool. It is a TEMPORARY state of consciousness where souls get to experience the pain and anguish that they caused to others through their words or deeds. They get first-hand experience of the emotional fallout of their actions (which they could not see on earth) – thus they learn what they did right and what they did wrong. This is how we souls learn and grow spiritually. We cannot learn without experience.
This is what people saw during their near-death experiences:
Hell is the pain, anguish, hurt and anger that you have caused others or who suffered as a result of your actions/words to others. Hell is what you have created for yourself within your soul by turning your back on UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, compassion and peace. (Tina)
Those who have stunted their spiritual growth through an undeveloped or misdirected lifestyle, have led a purely self-centered life or have hurt other people, their spiritual environment will reflect something of these realities. A self-centered life on Earth places one in an area of the spirit world with like-minded people who have yet to learn the value of unselfishness for the advancement of the soul. (Nora Spurgin)
The spiritual state of being you have on Earth is the spiritual state you take with you to the world beyond when you die. There is no sudden metamorphosis from an idle person into an active person, from a nonreligious person into a religious person, from a money-centered person into a God-centered person. This is not an automatic thing. Heaven and hell are spiritual states of being. They are not static states but are states in which there can be growth and progress toward ultimate wholeness of being. (Margaret Tweddell)
What people call hell is really a spiritual time-out condition in which souls reflect and work out the things that blocked them from the power of their own light. There is no condemnation in hell, only the outworking of our own misjudgments, mistakes, misalignments, or misappropriations. (Dr. PMH Atwater)
After death people gravitate into homogenous groups according to the rate of their soul's vibrations - much like throwing a small pebble into a threshing machine. It goes into the box that fits its proper size and weight. After death, we are sorted by the high or low vibrations of our soul. Everyone goes where they fit in! High vibrations indicate love and spiritual development, while low vibrations indicate debasement and evil. All one has to do is to LOVE SO UNSELFISHLY that their soul-vibrations rise high enough to fit into heaven. (Arthur Yensen)
The quality of life after death for a suicide is determined by their motive for killing themselves. Those who kill themselves in order to hurt someone, get revenge, or who kill themselves out of hatred for someone else, will haunt the living by being aware of every horrible consequence their suicide had on others. Those who, because of mental illness, confusion, or a terminal illness, take their own life, are allowed many opportunities from God to grow in love just as any other person would who had not committed suicide. (Dr. George Ritchie)
Hell contains people who have been alcoholics or drug addicts, who find these cravings still with them after death. They stay near the Earth to be near alcoholics or drug addicts who are still in the physical body, in order to participate vicariously in the sensations which alcohol and drugs give. They can be helped in the world beyond to clear their soul bodies of these cravings so that they, too, may go on and progress. However, this is a long and tedious process. (Margaret Tweddell)
Physical desires can be carried over into the afterlife but physical desires cannot be satisfied there. This can create a hellish condition for those who have them.
There are earthbound spirits of low vibrations, whom we may regard as devils because they annoy us through mental telepathy. These demons tune in on us through our low vibrations of hate, fear and greed. They can be tuned out with unselfish love, or if necessary be chased away by the stronger spirit of Jesus Christ. (Arthur Yensen)
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research14.html