Adverse effects of meditation: A review of observational, experimental and case studies

Lambert, Daniel R.; Berg, Nicholas van den; Mendrek, Adrianna

doi:10.1007/s12144-021-01503-2

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Among those who reported mindfulness meditation use during the COVID-19 pandemic, 60 percent reported that it had positive mental health effects, but 24 percent reported negative mental health effects, which broadly corresponds with findings from other survey studies [ 11 ]. For example, in two survey studies with samples of meditators who had at least two months of meditation experience, approximately one-quarter of the respondents reported previous unwanted or unpleasant experiences related to meditation practice [ 12 , 13 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Mindfulness meditation use in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Simonsson,

Fisher

2024

PLoS ONE

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Objectives The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and associations of mindfulness meditation use and also its perceived mental health effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Using repeated cross-sectional data from broad online samples weighted to be representative of the adult population in Britain, we estimated the prevalence of mindfulness meditation use and employed logistic regression models to investigate sociodemographic and political associations of mindfulness meditation use and also its perceived mental health effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The findings suggest that 16 percent of adults in Britain had learnt to practice mindfulness in 2021. In covariate-adjusted regression models, having learnt to practice mindfulness was more common among young and middle-aged adults, residents in London, and respondents who voted for the Liberal Democrats. Among mindfulness meditation users who reported having practiced mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic, 60 percent reported that it positively affected their mental health and 24 percent reported that it negatively affected their mental health. Notably, 41 percent of respondents with children under 18 (versus 13 percent of those without minors) reported negative mental health effects. In covariate-adjusted regression models, negative mental health effects from mindfulness practice during the COVID-19 pandemic were not concentrated in any particular groups, except for respondents with children under 18. Conclusions Mindfulness meditation has become widespread in Britain, but the results in this study suggest that mindfulness meditation use may be concentrated in certain sociodemographic and political groups. The results also suggest that practicing mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic had positive mental health effects for a majority of users, but approximately one-quarter of users reported negative mental health effects. It is therefore important for future research to continue monitoring the prevalence of mindfulness meditation use in society and to investigate under what circumstances, for whom, and in what ways mindfulness-based practices may have negative effects on mental health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Mindfulness meditation use in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Simonsson,

Fisher

2024

PLoS ONE

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“…In recent years, some scholars have begun to pay attention to the limitations of mindfulness [35][36][37] . Focused breathing mindfulness does not promote psycho-social development under all conditions, and bring benefit to everyone 19 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness may be associated with less prosocial engagement among high intelligence individuals

Guo

Liang

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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This study examined the role of dispositional mindfulness in the association between intelligence and prosocial behavior. A total of 759 college students (mean age is 22.03; 477 females) participated in exchange for extra credit in psychology course. The results confirmed a positive relationship between intelligence and prosocial behavior as revealed by many studies, with empathy serving as a potential mediator. Mindfulness negatively moderated all the hypothesized pathways between research variables. Specifically, with the increase of the levels of dispositional mindfulness, (1) the intelligence-prosociality association changed from positive to negative, (2) the intelligence-empathy association changed from positively significant to insignificant, (3) the empathy-prosociality association changed from stronger to weaker. These findings may suggest some limitations of mindfulness. That is, present moment awareness and acceptance of the status quo may result in reduced arousal when witnessing others suffering, thereby preventing high intelligence individuals from helping the sufferers to get rid of trouble.

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“…Adverse meditation events have also been examined recently ( Cebolla et al, 2017 ; Anderson et al, 2019 ; Farias et al, 2020 ; Goldberg et al, 2021 ; Lambert et al, 2021 ). In particular, Farias et al (2020) found an overall prevalence of 33% for adverse meditation events in observational studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides the positive effects classically associated with meditation, recent studies have also investigated adverse meditation experiences ( Cebolla et al, 2017 ; Anderson et al, 2019 ; Schlosser et al, 2019 ; Farias et al, 2020 ; Goldberg et al, 2021 ; Lambert et al, 2021 ). According to traditional Tantric Yoga accounts, adverse experiences during meditation are considered to arise primarily due to the premature or improper arousal of kundalini, i.e., in meditators lacking adequate preparation ( Krishna, 1993 ; Feuerstein, 1998 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Kundalini-Related Sensory, Motor, and Affective Experiences During Tantric Yoga Meditation

Maxwell

Katyal²

2022

Front. Psychol.

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Traditional spiritual literature contains rich anecdotal reports of spontaneously arising experiences occurring during meditation practice, but formal investigation of such experiences is limited. Previous work has sometimes related spontaneous experiences to the Indian traditional contemplative concept of kundalini. Historically, descriptions of kundalini come out of Tantric schools of Yoga, where it has been described as a “rising energy” moving within the spinal column up to the brain. Spontaneous meditation experiences have previously been studied within Buddhist and Christian practices and within eclectic groups of contemplative practitioners. Prior explorations of kundalini have emphasized extreme experiences, sometimes having clinical consequences. We conducted a first such investigation of kundalini-related experiences within a sample of meditators from a single Tantric Yoga tradition (known as Ananda Marga) that emphasizes the role of kundalini. We developed a semi-structured questionnaire to conduct an exploratory pilot investigation of spontaneous sensory, motor and affective experiences during meditation practice. In addition to identifying the characteristics of subjective experiences, we measured quantity of meditation, supplemental practices, trait affect and trait mindfulness. We administered it to 80 volunteers at two Ananda Marga retreats. Among reported experiences, we found the highest prevalence for positive mood shifts, followed by motor and then sensory experiences. The frequency of spontaneous experiences was not related to the quantity of practiced meditation or trait measures of mindfulness and affect. Self-reports included multiple descriptions of rising sensations, sometimes being directly called kundalini. Experiences with rising sensations were complex and many included references to positive affect, including ecstatic qualities. There were also reports of spontaneous anomalous experiences. These experiences of rising sensations resemble prior clinical descriptions that were considered kundalini-related. The individuals who reported rising sensations could not be distinguished from other participants based on the incidence of experiences, quantity of meditation practice, or trait measures of mindfulness and affect. In contrast, greater amount of Tantric Yoga meditation practice was associated with greater positive affect, less negative affect and greater mindfulness. Further study of these exploratory findings and how they may be related to spiritual and well-being goals of meditation is warranted along with scientific investigation of purported kundalini phenomena.

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Adverse effects of meditation: A review of observational, experimental and case studies

Cited by 10 publications

References 88 publications

Mindfulness meditation use in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mindfulness meditation use in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mindfulness may be associated with less prosocial engagement among high intelligence individuals

Characteristics of Kundalini-Related Sensory, Motor, and Affective Experiences During Tantric Yoga Meditation

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