http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3092572/The-dark-meditation-mindfulness-Treatment-trigger-mania-depression-psychosis-new-book-claims.html
Meditation
and mindfulness is promoted by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and
Russell Brand, who boast of its power to help people put stress out of
their minds and live for the moment.
But
the treatment can itself trigger mania, depression, hallucinations and
psychosis, psychological studies in the UK and US have found.
The practice is part of a growing movement based on ancient Eastern traditions of meditation.
However,
60 per cent of people who had been on a meditation retreat had suffered
at least one negative side effect, including panic, depression and
confusion, a study in the US found.
And
one in 14 of them suffered ‘profoundly adverse effects’, according to
Miguel Farias, head of the brain, belief and behaviour research group at
Coventry University and Catherine Wikholm, a researcher in clinical
psychology at the University of Surrey.
The shortage of rigorous statistical studies into the negative effects of meditation was a ‘scandal’, Dr Farias told The Times.
He
said: ‘The assumption of the majority of both TM [transcendental
meditation] and mindfulness researchers is that meditation can only do
one good.
‘This
shows a rather narrow-minded view. How can a technique that allows you
to look within and change your perception or reality of yourself be
without potential adverse effects?
‘The answer is that it can’t, and all meditation studies should assess not only positive but negative effects.’
The
British study involved measuring effect of yoga and meditation on
prisoners, and its findings were published yesterday in the
psychologists’ book, The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You?.
Inmates
at seven prisons in the Midlands took 90-minute classes once a week and
completed tests to measure their higher cognitive functions in a ten
week randomised control trial.
The
prisoners’ moods improved, and their stress and psychological distress
reduced - but they were found to be just as aggressive before the
mindfulness techniques.
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