When meditation goes wrong: part oneWhen meditation goes wrong: part one
All In The Mind
Meditation has a lot of benefits, but could it also have risks? Over the past decade, meditation and mindfulness have been promoted to reduce stress and increase relaxation. But there is another story of meditation that rarely gets told... one that involves anxiety, insomnia — even psychosis. Today, how one person went from being an evangelical mindfulness meditator, to a leading researcher on the adverse effects of meditation. Guests: Willoughby Britton Associate professor, Brown University Medical School and director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab Pawan Sharma Assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Pattan Academy of Health Sciences School of Medicine Pierce Salguero Professor of Asian History and Health Humanities at Penn State University Credits: Presenter: Sana Qadar Reporter/producer: Fiona Pepper Senior producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Extra information: Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022 Prevalence and predictors of meditation use in Australia and New Zealand: results from a nationally representative survey Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy improves polysomnographic and subjective sleep profiles in antidepressant users with sleep complaints Meditation-induced psychosis: a narrative review and individual patient data analysis Psychiatric Problems Precipitated by Transcendental Meditation The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Cheetah House To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search 'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
29:36•28 Aug 2026
When Meditation Goes Wrong: Risks Behind the Calm
Episode Overview
- Meditation is widely promoted as relaxing, yet research shows it can cause insomnia, anxiety and even psychotic symptoms for some people.
- Early meditation studies often ignored adverse effects, creating a biased picture that only highlighted benefits.
- Historical Buddhist sources have long recognised "meditation sickness", suggesting awareness of serious side effects is not new.
- Intensive or prolonged practice may push the brain into hyperarousal or hypoarousal, with symptoms ranging from emotional flooding to dissociation.
- Informed consent is crucial so people can weigh potential benefits against possible harms before starting meditation, especially intensive retreats.
“Everyone knows that if you meditate enough, you stop sleeping.”
What drives someone to seek a practice that’s meant to calm the mind, only to find it can sometimes do the opposite? This instalment of *All In The Mind* looks at meditation from a side you rarely hear about – the risks and harms that can arise, especially with intensive practice. You’ll hear how associate professor Willoughby Britton went from being what she calls an “evangelical” mindfulness fan to a leading researcher on adverse meditation effects.
She recalls spending years trying to prove meditation improved sleep, only to find, “No matter how I looked at it… their brainwaves got faster, which means that they were more awake.” Her initial decision not to publish those results sets the tone for a frank look at scientific bias and the pressure to report only positive outcomes. Science reporter Fiona Pepper guides the conversation, drawing on her own upbringing in a Vipassana-obsessed household and her curiosity about “meditation sickness”.
Psychiatrist Pawan Sharma shares cases from Nepal where very heavy meditation practice appears to trigger psychotic symptoms, leading his team to publish on “meditation induced psychosis”. Historian Pierre Salguero adds a long‑view perspective, explaining that Buddhist traditions have recognised “chanbing” or “meditation sickness” for more than a thousand years.
The episode breaks down the types of challenges reported in Britton’s research, from insomnia and anxiety to dissociation and loss of motivation, and explains why practices designed to sharpen attention might, for some people, push the brain into hyperarousal – a bit like overdoing caffeine or stimulants. Across the conversation, there’s no scaremongering, just a clear message about informed consent: people deserve to know that meditation, like any powerful mental health tool, can carry risks as well as rewards.
If you’re curious about balancing self-care practices with safety and evidence, this one will really get you thinking – how much do we actually know about the routines we trust with our minds?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.