Unwanted effects: Is there a negative side of meditation? A multicentre survey
PLoS ONE September 5, 2017 Ausiàs Cebolla, Marcelo Demarzo, Patricia Silveira Martins et al. 186 citations
About a quarter (25.4%) of meditation practitioners report unwanted effects (UEs), which are usually temporary and do not lead to stopping practice or seeking medical help. UEs are more common during focused attention meditation, when practicing alone for more than 20 minutes, and during individual practice; body awareness practices are associated with fewer UEs. The findings come from an online survey of 342 experienced meditators (at least two months of practice), mostly women from Spain with university education. The authors recommend using standardized questionnaires to better assess these effects in future research.