Why meditation can be dangerous

Of course, there are challenges associated with these kinds of studies, including the self-reported nature of the results, the relatively small number of studies themselves, and external factors, such as the fact that people drawn to contemplative practice are often already in crisis. But the fact remains that for some, the consequences of intensive meditation can be dire.

In June , some 10 weeks after attending a day silent meditation retreat, year-old Megan Vogt killed herself by jumping from a bridge in Pennsylvania near her Maryland home. I finally got that memory. While the kind of meditation-induced psychosis that Vogt experienced is rare, her story felt familiar.

I also had managed to complete my day retreat. And like Megan, the real trouble cropped up afterward as I experienced regular thoughts of suicide, from the more idle what-if-I-just-dropped-into-the-train-tracks to more plan-based thoughts, like where-would-I-find-pills-that-would-really-do-the-job type.

Meanwhile, my practice kept me so morbidly fixated on my flaws that I kept finding more. And this was true for me too: After the retreat, I had more energy and often felt that I was better able to cope with stressful situations. Instead, I just ended up flipping through the same reels of intel about the end of my marriage. For instance, Annie Gurton , HG. If they were paranoid, it would have fed into those thoughts. Tulsi-haldi kadha to boost immunity in monsoon.

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Weight loss story: "At 28, I weighed more than my mother and this is how I lost weight". Stomach cancer. Whooping cough. Negative impact of meditation on your health. Count: We have sent you a verification email. To verify, just follow the link in the message. Created: Aug 26, , IST. When it comes to our mental health and spiritual being, meditation is one of the most recommended practices in and around the world. Many believe that it uplifts our mood, heals emotional wounds and also helps us find our mental peace.

Researchers have backed these claims with various studies and have found that meditation can help reduce stress, improve our health and memory. However, what we don't know are the harmful effects meditation can have on us in the long run.

In the past, studies have listed down a couple of drawbacks and negative impact meditation can have on our physical and mental well being. A study conducted by researchers from Brown University and the University of California found a couple of side effects meditation could have on people. While it is also important to note that more research is needed to prove the same, we cannot really ignore these findings.

Comments 0. Be the first one to comment. Read All Comments Post a Comment. Visual Stories Right arrow. The scientific team did not find a single instance in which harm that was experienced by people in MBSR community or research was greater than the increased negative symptoms experienced by people in the control group who received no treatment. In addition, on about half of the harm measures the researchers examined, rates of harm in MBSR were significantly lower than those in the no-treatment group.

The researchers were careful to note, however, that more research of potential preventative effects is needed because most preventative effects were observed in comparisons between community MBSR and people in the research MBSR studies who received no treatment—groups that had significantly different levels of symptoms at baseline.

It remains important to expand the research to understand the experiences of the small number of individuals who have adverse reactions.

Hirshberg also noted that due to limitations in the data, they were not able to examine whether socioeconomic status or race and ethnicity were related to harm. Another question to explore further is the subjective interpretation of harm. In , the American Psychiatric Association published a statement recommending that research on meditation should evaluate both its usefulness and its dangers.

What does this mean to the millions of people using meditation to alleviate everyday stress and anxiety? Not to mention the increase in schools using meditation-based programmes with children — is it possible that some of them may experience more harm than good?

The new evidence from this and other recent studies shows that this is a real possibility. Why does this happen?