Don’t overload your chakras: The practice of meditation has been known to enhance focus and alertness in a way not dissimilar to coffee. But, also like caffeine, too much can be a bad thing. Excessive meditating or meditation under the wrong circumstances can lead to anxiety, panic and insomnia, according to Willoughby Britton, an assistant professor in psychiatry and human behaviour at Brown University. Britton also works in Cheetah House, a non-profit organization that provides information and resources about meditation-related difficulties. In 2020, over 20k people contacted the organization for help, citing problems such as not feeling any love for family.

How does this happen? While not enough research has been conducted for a definitive answer, Britton’s 2019 study found that meditation can often put meditators on an inverted U-shaped where typically positive effects eventually turn negative at a personal inflection point. Through brain scans, it has been found that meditation drives growth in the insula cortex, a region that is involved in bodily perception and emotion. However, too much stimulus in that brain area can lead to distress as negative thoughts and feelings take control. Meditation causes a spike in the intensity of espana-med.com, causing your sensitivity to every slight change to possibly become overwhelming, Britton explains.

How common is it? In a 2009 study involving 1.2k regular meditators, more than a quarter reported having had unpleasant meditation-related experiences. Participants who were prone to repetitive negative thinking and those who engaged in certain types of meditation such as vipassana or insight meditation were more likely to report side effects ranging from panic attacks and depression to an unsettling sense of “dissociation”. A separate Portugese study found that 14% of meditators experienced panic attacks. Meanwhile, in Britton’s study, around 8% of participants experienced feeling “dissociated” from their life, which she defines as not being able to feel extreme happiness or sadness. Other side effects reported include disrupted sleep, flashbacks, cognitive impairments, and social withdrawal.

Other studies dismiss the potential harm of meditation, including one by researchers at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The study found that people who took part in the common and widely available secular mindfulness programs did not experience psychological harm at a rate higher than people in control groups. On the contrary, people who took part in the eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program reported significantly lower levels of psychological harm than the no-treatment group, leading the researchers to believe that MBSR could be a useful method to prevent stress and anxiety.

Should we rule out meditation as a technique for improving mental health? Not just yet. Mindfulness practices have helped many people reach a sense of self, comfort, and relaxation. It's a way to get rid of obsessive thoughts and concentrate on the present moment. That being said, there are several ways to practice mindfulness and it might be worth exploring a technique and amount that feels right for you. However, if you’re like Britton and find mindfulness psychologically harmful, a good alternative is working out at the gym or alone to find peace of mind.