When meditation goes wrong: part twoWhen meditation goes wrong: part two
All In The Mind
Meditation sickness, meditation-related adverse effects or meditators in distress – you probably haven't heard these terms, even if you do meditate. Yet research finds adverse effects occur in half of all meditators. For one in 10, it impairs their functioning or lasts more than a month. Experts say many people can benefit from meditation, but it can also come with harms. Today, the second episode of a two-part special on the research into those harms and the personal stories of those who've experienced them. You can hear part one of the series here. Guests: Willoughby Britton Associate Professor, Brown University Medical School; Director of the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Lab Nicholas Van Dam Associate Professor, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences; Director of the Contemplative Studies Center at the University of Melbourne Willem Kuyken Professor of Mindfulness and Psychological Science, University of Oxford Jane Reed Experienced adverse effects from meditation and the author of First Telling Sue Experienced adverse effects from meditation Credits: Presenter: Sana Qadar Reporter/Producer: Fiona Pepper Senior Producer: James Bullen Producer: Rose Kerr Extra info: Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial 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•4 Sept 2026
When Meditation Hurts: Risks, Retreats and the Fine Print
Episode Overview
- Meditation can cause adverse effects in a significant proportion of people, including distress, insomnia, and even psychosis, especially with intense practice.
- Risk factors highlighted include pre-existing mental health issues, trauma histories, high-achieving rule-followers, and participation in long retreats.
- Apps and short practices are not automatically harmless; without a teacher or personalised guidance, people can end up in serious distress, as Sue describes.
- Large-scale research like the MYRIAD trial found no overall benefit of mandatory school mindfulness and hints that already vulnerable students may fare worse.
- Experts stress the need for informed consent and better safety practices in meditation communities so people understand both potential benefits and harms.
“Anything that can have that level of potency or can have measurable effects can work either in a helpful or harmful way.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery and meditation? This episode of All In The Mind takes a sharp look at what happens when a supposedly calming practice tips people into crisis. Science reporter Fiona Pepper walks through real stories of “meditation-related adverse effects”, including Sue, a woman in long-term alcohol recovery who turned to pranayama breathwork via an app.
Hoping to reach her “best self”, she instead found her “sense of self dissolving” while driving, describing, “it was just the void and I was the void and the whole thing was a void”. Her distress lasted around a year and a half before she found support through Cheetah House. Jane Reid, a long-time meditator from Britain, shares how a Zen retreat during a stressful period of life ended with psychosis, hospital stays and two decades of recovery work.
Her story raises blunt questions about how retreat centres respond when someone is clearly unwell. As she puts it, “people who do these practices… almost feel it’s a panacea… and it just isn’t”. Associate Professor Willoughby Britton explains who seems most at risk: high-achieving “rule followers”, people with trauma histories and those undertaking intense retreats.
Associate Professor Nicholas Van Dam adds that meditation can match gold-standard treatments for some mental health conditions, but that it’s “potent” and can cut both ways. Professor Willem Kuyken then breaks down the huge MYRIAD trial of school-based mindfulness, which showed “no signal whatsoever” of benefit overall, and hints of worse outcomes for students already struggling.
Throughout, host Sana Kadar keeps the tone grounded and curious, with a focus on informed consent: if meditation is powerful, shouldn’t people know the real risks as well as the benefits? For anyone in alcohol or addiction recovery who’s been told to meditate because “it can’t hurt”, this episode asks you to pause and ask: what’s the right practice, at the right time, with the right support?
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