The Dangers Of Meditation

When was the last time you heard anyone talking about how unsafe meditation is?

I personally never have heard anyone discuss the potentially unsafe side-effects of meditating. In fact, it seems completely counterintuitive.

But, like any good thing, there is the potential for good things to become bad things.

And meditation is no exception to that – there actually are dangerous side-effects to meditation.

So while I have written other articles about the benefits of meditation, it would be irresponsible of me not to address some of the ways in which it may go wrong.

Because, as the saying goes, sometimes too much of a good thing is not a good thing after all.

Let’s explore what some of the dangers could be.

Disengaging

Meditation, regardless of what specific modality you adhere to, teaches us to be present and practise non-judgement with our thoughts.

This is extremely helpful for people who are inclined to be extremely judgmental of themselves. It helps to disconnect and allow us to be as we most simply are. It teaches us it is okay to be as we are.

It is dangerous, however, if how we are being is not very safe or healthy. If that idea that we are okay being just as we are promotes that we continue to engage in behaviour that is unsafe for ourselves or others, this becomes an issue. If we are disengaged from continuing to grow and learn, it becomes dangerous.

This is a potential side-effect of meditation that is not helpful.

Avoiding Or Not Attaching

Similar to not identifying the need for growth or expansion as I discussed above, if we continue to practise non-attachment all the time, we may feel as though we do not need to attach to other people. Meditation promotes that we not always attach to others or the thoughts and ideas about other people but rather just be with them in the moment that we are in.

Remember that human connection is essential to survival and love is necessary for happiness.

If we are not attaching ourselves to others all the time or on an ongoing basis because we have taken the idea of attaching only to ourselves too far, this also becomes dangerous.

It could promote disconnection instead of connection, which is not the goal of meditation and not helpful.

Feeling Overloaded

In meditation it is taught to sit with ourselves in whatever thoughts and feelings arise, that these thoughts and feelings are okay and acceptable and that they can freely move on by when they are ready.

This is helpful in not becoming married to a thought or idea about ourselves, but the issue sometimes is that if we allow ourselves to wholly and completely feel our thoughts until they are ready to not be felt, we could be sitting in dangerous thoughts for a while.

If our thoughts are overwhelming to us and are promoting perhaps dangerous behaviour, then we may need to try to disengage from them in an intentional way for our safety.

Distraction techniques can be helpful in doing this.

Avoiding Other Kinds Of Treatment

There is so much information available online, in podcasts, or in YouTube videos, about the benefits of meditation.

And it’s true: meditation is a very helpful tool. It is especially helpful for individuals struggling with mental health disorders.

However, meditation should not be the only piece of the puzzle for many people.

Some people may convince themselves that because they meditate they are doing enough.

Unfortunately for many people this could be a way to avoid the need for more intensive kinds of mental health therapies or even medication practices.

Meditation should be used in tandem with such kinds of treatment and is found to be extremely effective when used as a tool in a toolkit, but not as the entire toolkit.

Please do not avoid other kinds of treatments because you are meditating. Please simply include meditation in other, also effective, ways to treat some of the struggles you may be experiencing.

Frustration

Meditation can actually be extremely frustrating. We cannot expect ourselves to, after never having practised or even taken a yoga class, to sit down for a half hour and meditate. Thinking that we can and setting ourselves up for failure in this way is dangerous to our mental health and thoughts about ourselves.

By diving into a meditation practice without training your body and mind to be prepared to do so may make you feel like a failure when it is in fact the opposite of a relaxing experience but rather is traumatizing.

It can be a terrible thing to sit with our thoughts and have had no preparation for this. This can be dangerous to us if we have not prepared and have nobody to help us debrief this experience. It could even prompt a state of crisis for some.

Mainstream media promotes that one could just start meditating for long periods of time as if it isn’t a huge undertaking. This is dangerous to people who have set themselves up or rather been set up in this way.

Changes In Sensory Experiences

There are a very small percentage of people who have practised meditation who have actually reported visions, illusions, hallucinations, or being more sensitive to stimuli such as noises or lights after continuously practising meditation.

It is reported that this is more likely to occur after prolonged periods of meditation and is very rare, but it is still a reported and possible side-effect that could be dangerous for some.

Other people have reported experiencing fear, anxiety, panic, and paranoia instead of some of the more traditionally discussed reductions in stress, anxiety, and these experiences.

Conclusion

The potentially dangerous side-effects of meditation are important to identify because we cannot teach individuals that this is a tool that should be used in 100% of situations that will be 100% effective. That simply isn’t true.

It is the responsibility of all people who use it to be informed about the ways it could be taken too far or potentially have negative side-effects, even if they are not likely to occur.

It is recommended that if one practises they regularly check-in with a physician or mental health professional about how their meditation practice is going. Identify what is working and what isn’t working for you and ask for advice along the way.

It may also be helpful to journal about your progress and how you are feeling as a way of objectively reflecting on that process.

May your meditation practice be full of life and love and wellness!

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Bullet Journaling For Anxiety
2. Meditation For Beginners