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talkpoliticsMind-blowing read: Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook
In a nutshell:
1. Mindfulness and meditation, though widely praised, can cause serious adverse effects such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalisation, sometimes in people with no prior mental health issues
2. A 2022 US study found over 10% of regular meditators experienced negative impacts lasting at least a month
3. Historical sources, including a 1,500 year old Buddhist text and a 1976 warning by Arnold Lazarus, have similarly documented meditation's dark side
4. The booming US mindfulness market (≈US$2.2 bn) often omits warnings about potential harms, fueled by a "capitalist spiritual" mindset
5. Ethically, mindfulness promotion should include disclosure of risks, better training for instructors, and informed guidance for practitioners
In a nutshell:
1. Mindfulness and meditation, though widely praised, can cause serious adverse effects such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalisation, sometimes in people with no prior mental health issues
2. A 2022 US study found over 10% of regular meditators experienced negative impacts lasting at least a month
3. Historical sources, including a 1,500 year old Buddhist text and a 1976 warning by Arnold Lazarus, have similarly documented meditation's dark side
4. The booming US mindfulness market (≈US$2.2 bn) often omits warnings about potential harms, fueled by a "capitalist spiritual" mindset
5. Ethically, mindfulness promotion should include disclosure of risks, better training for instructors, and informed guidance for practitioners
(no subject)
Date: 21/6/25 02:33 (UTC)Oh, this is from that site that boosted that breathless "Just One Nation Produces Enough Food For Itself" thing a while back... What's sciencealert.com aiming for? Why do they have to take studies and constantly reframe them to make breathless claims? Is it just the ad clicks?
To take a more constructive tack, you know what I think should have more disclosure of risks, better training, and informed guidance? CHURCH.
(no subject)
Date: 23/6/25 14:01 (UTC)That said, I wasn't trying to say meditation = doom. Just that it's not always sunshine and inner peace for everyone, and a little awareness of potential downsides doesn't hurt. Even ancient Buddhist texts mentioned this stuff before it was cool! :-P
And yes 100% agree: if we're talking about risk disclosures and better training, churches might need a user manual too.
(no subject)
Date: 1/7/25 20:09 (UTC)Yeah, meditation being sunshine and inner peace has always seemed like a strange equation to me. I took up a meditation practice when I was a young teenager, in part to try and control my temper, but when I took that inner mental journey, I mostly envisioned things that weren't sunshiney at all. One of my most calming visions was of being a mummified corpse, already a thousand years old, enclosed in the dark in a sarcophagus, in the unreachable depths of a huge, silent pyramid. Somehow it felt way more peaceful than a sunny clearing or a beach. Very "goth", as my generation would say.
"Whaddaya mean church ain't got a user manual? It's called THA BIBLE, y'all!"*
* This statement may contain dangerous levels of irony; read with caution.