Engaging in mindfulness meditation can be harmful?

Apparently meditation rather than being automatically a calming and otherwise beneficial practice is actually psychologically harmful to a significant percentage of those who practice it. This goes against a deeply engrained mindset that says medition is automatically beneficial spiritually and otherwise. That obviously then leads to the questions of what form of meditation is universally beneficial, or how can we therapeutically detect that a person is a poor candidate for the practice? There seems to be little research on this. The bottom line: be careful.

From https://theconversation.com/meditation-c...rse-230435 :

Since mindfulness it’s something you can practice at home for free, it often sounds like (but really isn't) the perfect tonic for stress and mental health issues. Mindfulness is a type of Buddhist-based meditation in which you focus on being aware of what you’re sensing, thinking and feeling in the present moment.

The first recorded evidence for this, found in India, is over 1,500 years old. The Dharmatrāta Meditation Scripture, written by a community of Buddhists, describes various practices and includes reports of symptoms of depression and anxiety that can occur after meditation. It also details cognitive anomalies associated with episodes of psychosis, dissociation and depersonalisation (when people feel the world is “unreal”).

In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare. A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10% of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror.

I am a bit wary of meditation as profit motivated enterprise divorced from spirituality being seen as equivalent to what the "real deal" is, though I do notice the article mentions the potential dangers were noted by the ancients as well.


I think like any other practice or treatment it can have negative sides.

It may be due to the wiring of the brain, or possibly the danger of opening one's self without proper spiritual protection.

Probably a bit of a mix of different things going on. For example, a feeling that the world is unreal, is that a harm or a benefit? Obviously if it leaves one unable to function and potentially causing danger to oneself then it's a problem. But if one is already in an extremely dangerous situation, then it might help in avoiding panic and rushed and poor decisions.

From my point of view, doing something in an abstract manner rather than as part of some spiritual background might lead to something unexpected or which one is unprepared for. But I also think it may depend on the individual, things may work differently for different people. Recently I was listening to a video about a person's out-of-body experiences which happened very easily while for some it takes years of disciplined practice. I'll see if I can find the video again to share it.

Although meditation, if practiced carefully, can be beneficial to health and wellbeing, since being a Christian I have learned that looking outside of yourself is generally more beneficial psychologically.  My biggest difficulties in life are when I am too aware of myself and my own feelings and issues.  Looking out for others and for the world around me helps prevent be becoming too self-absorbed and keeps things in perspective.

From my point of view, doing something in an abstract manner rather than as part of some spiritual background might lead to something unexpected or which one is unprepared for. But I also think it may depend on the individual, things may work differently for different people. Recently I was listening to a video about a person's out-of-body experiences which happened very easily while for some it takes years of disciplined practice. I'll see if I can find the video again to share it.

This is the video I mentioned, from Melitta Kosmann - I already shared it some time ago but still found it interesting to hear again.
https://psiencequest.net/forums/thread-o...9#pid49779

People are different. For example 5-10% have no inner voice, something I take for granted. I have tried meditation several times and have never found it to have any benefit for me. Others are highly devouted to the practice. Maybe they have a more “turbulent” head.

Was thinking about a past study that showed mindfulness meditation can be as effective as an anti-depressant drug for some.

Meditation definitely has its risks, but I think a fair accounting does have to compare against other treatment.

People develop all kinds of horrible psychiatric problems on meditation retreats. The worst type of meditation is in the tradition of S. N. Goenka

http://web.archive.org/web/2016021301243...t-project/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.100...21-01682-w

The Dangers of Mindfulness: Another Myth?
...
Abstract

Criticism of potential drawbacks of mindfulness is crucial for the field to move forward and remain grounded in reality rather than become carried away by the mindfulness hype. At the same time, however, such criticism needs to be reasonable and based on actual facts rather than subjective imagination. The allegation that mindfulness is intrinsically dangerous appears to have been influenced by unreasonable claims made by Daniel Ingram, which have been taken seriously due to an apparent lack of acquaintance of some scholars with Buddhist doctrine and with genuine forms of insight meditation.

https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/m...2lppayr899

The Dangers of Meditation

Like many activities, meditation is not without risks. I explained these risks to someone on reddit in approximately this way:

Meditation can release a lot of suppressed emotions and people who don't want to deal with that should do relaxation exercises instead. Also, one of the reasons for fidgeting and wanting to cut short a meditation session or skip a session is that unconscious, unpleasant thoughts are nearing the surface. One reason I recommend serenity meditation is because it produces positive emotions that will counteract the effects of negative emotions that might be released during meditation.

Meditation can make you more emotional. For example, after you start meditating regularly, you might feel like crying more when watching sad movies.

Different types of meditation may affect people differently. If you find a type of meditation has a negative impact on your mood, try relaxation exercises or a different type of meditation.

Meditation can cause personality changes that can interfere with career and relationships. It is not uncommon for someone who has become deeply involved with meditation to lose interest in the materialist rat race. When a person experiences the changes caused by meditation they may find themselves drifting apart from friends and relatives who are not experiencing those changes.

Meditation can turn your world-view upside down and that can be disconcerting. Meditation might bring you to the realization that much unhappiness in your past was needless, and all the pleasure you get from the things you love and enjoy is just an illusion. While realization brings equanimity, brief glimpses short of realization into the truth of non-self and emptiness can be disturbing. When your world-view gets turned upside down, and you are left facing a completely new reality that is unfamiliar to you, there can be a psychological upheaval.

Long sessions of meditation can cause temporary forgetfulness. This is a natural consequence of calming the mind. When the effects of meditation wear off, normal memory function will return.

I don't advise people to meditate sitting on the floor or to sit absolutely still because that can cause knee and spine injuries. If some people like to sit on the floor or sit absolutely still when they meditate, I am not necessarily against it, I just don't tell people to do it.

It is possible to develop the habit of repressing thoughts and emotions from meditating if you push unpleasant thoughts and emotions away in order to maintain concentration. Learning to let go without repressing requires experiencing the thought or emotion while relaxing.

Please see the section on Releasing Unpleasant Thoughts and Emotions for more information.

After meditating regularly, some people report having psychic experiences such as improved intuition, synchronicities, and seeing spirits. Some people like having these experiences but there are various reasons such experiences can be disturbing. For example, experiencing premonitions of disaster you can do noting to prevent, or seeing spirits can be upsetting for some people.

In some cases people may have religious beliefs that any of these types of experiences are evil. However, most religious traditions have some form of practice that is equivalent to meditation but has a different name such as "contemplative prayer" or "repetitive prayer" and these practices might be more appropriate for religious believers than meditation.

It is possible that some people might find some forms of meditation to be addicting. Some people are susceptible to addiction. For example, many people drink alcohol but only some become alcoholics. Because some forms of meditation (such as the serenity meditation described above, and any type of practice that produces intensely pleasurable feelings) seem to activate the pleasure centers in the brain, it is possible that people who are prone to addiction might become addicted to these forms of meditation.

Excessive amounts of certain types of meditation can cause severe psychological harm including hallucinations, psychosis, and suicide. There was an interview with Willoughby Britton, a Professor of Psychiatry at Brown University, in which she discussed this at buddhistgeeks.com but it has been removed. There is an excerpt from the interview at the end of this forum post. If you are considering going on a meditation retreat that is a week or longer, you should be aware of this danger. Most meditation retreats involve long hours of meditation every day which can be physically uncomfortable so they are designed to use subtle psychological pressure to get the participants to do the meditation. If you are on a retreat and you feel it is causing you a psychological disruption, you need to understand the risks because often the staff may be more concerned with pushing you to meditate than looking out for your psychological health. You need to take responsibility to stop meditating if it is harming you. And this is a lot to expect from a beginner so I would recommend beginners avoid retreats longer than a weekend. If you have been meditating regularly for a year and have done a few weekend retreats, you could consider a longer retreat. This is just my opinion, and each person has the right to make decisions for themselves and do what they feel is right for themselves, but they should make their decisions with the best available information.