Understanding these reactions helps clinicians, teachers, and learners make safer choices. Researchers who study meditation are beginning to treat it like any other powerful mental practice: one that can heal and, in some cases, overwhelm. Paying attention to who is practicing, how they are guided, and what supports are in place can change whether meditation helps someone grow or leaves them struggling.
If we think about human potential as more than a set of techniques, we open the door to more inclusive and resilient approaches. Curious readers will want to know which styles of practice are most likely to cause trouble, how distressing effects show up over time, and what systems can reduce harm while preserving benefit. Follow the link to explore these findings and consider what they imply for safer, more informed paths to wellbeing.
Meditation is widely praised for its mental health benefits, but new research shows that it can also produce unexpected side effects for some people—from anxiety and dissociation to functional impairment. Psychologist Nicholas Van Dam and his team found that nearly 60% of meditators experienced some kind of effect, and about a third found them distressing.