Friday offtopic. Meditation is not as harmless as you might think

[fridi]

Mind-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

Comments

[garote]

That 2022 study they mention involved about 500 people, screened in advance from a pool of about 900 using some criteria that are not explained in the abstract, completing an online survey. If you follow the citations backward and forward you find a forest of other studies (involving more people and more rigor) that do not reinforce the conclusions in the abstract.

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.