Meditation isn't for everyone and for some its effects can be negative

Meditation is often heralded as a universal remedy for a range of contemporary mental health problems. However, this ancient practice of mindfulness does not always yield positive results and can indeed have adverse effects on some individuals—a concern that has been acknowledged for many years.

PsyPost’s Miguel Farais pointed out in a recent article on the problems meditation might prompt in some that the first recorded evidence showing meditation could actually make some issues worse comes from 1,500 years ago. 

The​ Dharmatrāta Meditation Scripture is an ancient text that was written by a Buddhist community and it details the anxiety and depression some individuals might experience after meditation. But those weren’t the only issues the text reported. 

“It also details cognitive anomalies associated with episodes of psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalization (when people feel the world is ‘unreal’),” Farais explained. These are all problems modern science has been working to understand. 

Recent research has uncovered some of the mysteries behind the negative outcomes of meditation and shown that these outcomes happen far more often than most individuals might think. 

A 2022 study published in the journal Psychotherapy Research discovered that as many as 10% of the 953 American participants studied said they experienced adverse effects from meditation that impacted their daily lives. 

All of the participants in the study meditated on a regular basis, and the 10% of people who said they experienced adverse effects from their practice also reported that these adverse effects lasted for at least one month. 

Another study published in 2020 in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica provided a meta-analysis of forty years of research into meditation that found that the most common adverse effects for practitioners were anxiety and depression. 

Psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalization, and fear or terror were also other problematic adverse effects that some individuals have suffered, all of which occurred at relatively high rates according to the study's authors. 

After looking at 83 studies, the researchers found that 65% of them reported at least one type of mediation adverse effect with a total prevalence of adverse events hitting 8.3%. However, this number did range depending on the study. 

The researchers revealed that 38% of the studies they looked at reported events of anxiety and 27% depression while cognitive abnormalities were reported in 25% of the studies.

“We found that the occurrence of [adverse effects] during or after meditation practices is not uncommon, and may occur in individuals with no previous history of mental health problems. These results are relevant both for practitioners and clinicians,” the study’s authors concluded.

However, meditation can also have a negative effect on those who don’t have a history of mental issues according to research from 2022 published in the journal Mindfulness according to PsyPost’s Miguel Farais. 

Another study from 2021 found BJPsych Open discovered that 22% of its 1370 regular meditating participants experienced “unpleasant meditation-related experiences” and 13% categorized their experiences as “adverse.”

“This study demonstrates that unpleasant meditation-related experiences are prevalent among meditators and, to a relevant extent, severe enough to warrant further scientific inquiry,” the study authors concluded. 

Meditation does benefit millions of people based solely on the anecdotal evidence presented by those whom the practice has helped. But should people think twice before they adopt a practice based on the potential risks that meditation presents?

Photo Credit: Unsplash By Benjamin Child