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Any reasons to make such claims? Links? References?
People can experience certain states of consciousness during meditation which could be described as dream like states, and clinically they are probably nothing more than lucid dreams... But there is absolutely no evidence for it to have any negative side effects. In fact, mindfulness courses are considered to be helpful for people with psychosis and suicidal tendencies.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25218397
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24785766
Also, it's not helpful for anyone dealing with psychological problems themselves that are looking into something like meditation to find some completely unfounded claims on a forum about someone that "read something somewhere on the internet" which can lead people, in particular with anxiety, to not do something that is very well proven to be beneficial for them.
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If one has right view or partiality to no view then most "threats" that happen in the course of practice would be transcended.
Upvote:3
I would be extremely suspicious of claims that. As a general rule of thumb, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Saying that meditation can cause psychosis sounds like a pretty big claim to me, so I'm inclined to set that aside until there is some solid evidence to back it up.
A lot of so called 'unusual' things can happen during meditation, but I wouldn't call any of them psychotic breaks by any means. The most common thing is for people to see things like lights during seated meditation or to have sudden waves of goosebumps, and occasionally you can have sensations of falling or body parts vanishing or moving. For some people there are stages when things feel unfamiliar or strange for a while, but these experiences fade away as long as you keep practicing correctly.
Upvote:3
I think the question should be reworded to, if someone has a psychological breakdown, permanent or temporary, is this caused by the meditation retreat or is this a consequence of this person being vulnerable or unready to dive into the depths of meditation.
Because I know people that have bawled their eyes out for a two day retreat, I did not see them blaming the retreat or meditation. In fact they went back to their life with no apparent damage. Knowing what you are ready for is part of being a good student.
An organization that does not give a novice shorter possible retreats may have overlooked that we are not all at the stage and some of us are not ready for a 10 day retreat. Friends have told me that they meditated on a daily basis for a year or two before they felt they were ready for a longer retreat. The real problem with longer retreats is that our crutches get taken away and we may find ourselves in unfamiliar places that we could interpret as scary. Some people have developed the observer to the point where this is no big deal. Others clutch themselves in the fetal position and find themselves thrown into uncharted territory.
I am a modernist with the belief that we should not put people in situations they are not prepared for. This is not a way for a wise teacher to proceed in my opinion. If you sign up for a teacher or method that is very strict and inflexible, one should expect to endure a testing of greater proportions. Let's not blame meditation, let's reexamine those who throw people untested into extreme situations without a safety valve and those who throw themselves blindly into retreats when they are not ready to face or accept the reduction or shrinking of the personal self.
Upvote:4
As this is a science driven question I will try to give a science driven answer first and then an additional comment.
People can have a nervous breakdown anywhere, watching TV, in a elevator, working out... I can find no scientific evidence that meditation can create such thing, I can say that for 2 reasons:
1- As far as I'm aware there is no group analysis or long term study on meditators (comparing to a non meditators group) to support that claim.
2- As far as I'm aware, there is no scientific evidence coming from reliable source or based on brain scans that might even suggest that.
That was the scientific answer from my point of view, based on my experience and limited knowledge of the subject.
Now comes the problem........meditation don't create problems, but can bring them to surface and make you deal with them, so it is strongly advised to meditate under a teacher specially if you have big traumas and issues, they can all come up strong during meditation.
Upvote:8
Things can go wrong in meditation. Some of the are as follows:
What is needed to be done is (so things don't go wrong):
One VRI reference I found where other techniques were discouraged: My experiences with Goenkaji. Here what is discouraged is the practice of Mantra and Tantra in the same time as practicing Vipassana. Though statistical / clinical trials may have not been done to the extent of drug approvals, this perception may have been formed based on experience. So to avoid danger it is best to accept it at face value.
Also see: