“I was trying to save the world”: delusion-like ideation and associated impacts reported by Western practitioners of Buddhist meditation
Elizaveta Solomonova, Jared R. Lindahl, Ian Gold, David J. Cooper, Charlotte Little, Damian Arteca, Chenxi Cao, Willoughby B. Britton
Frontiers in Psychology October 24, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1644684 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Mixed-methods study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 100 |
| Population | Buddhist meditation practitioners and meditation experts (teachers and clinicians) in the West |
| Intervention | meditation |
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | Context archaeology Typology Ideation Psychopathology Psychotherapist Clinical psychology Explanatory model Transcendental meditation Psychological intervention Interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Eight types of delusion-like ideation associated with meditation were identified, with responses shaped by type, duration, severity, impact, and appraisals, and meditation experts consider it a potential "red flag" meriting monitoring or intervention. |
Abstract
Delusional ideation is characteristic of psychopathology (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder) and is also found among the general population. Contemporary case studies have documented delusional ideation as a feature of meditation-induced psychosis, and Buddhist literature on the side effects and adverse effects of meditation also includes discussion of transient experiences that could be considered delusional or delusion-like ideation. Drawing upon interviews with more than 100 Buddhist meditation practitioners and meditation experts (teachers and clinicians) in the West, this paper presents a mixed-methods study of delusion-like ideation (DLI) associated with meditation. We establish a typology of eight types of DLI and report their relative frequencies among the sample; we identify impacts and treatment outcomes associated with DLI; and we provide four case studies that illustrate the risk factors, trajectories, outcomes, and appraisals associated with DLI. We show how responses to DLI are shaped not only by the type of DLI but also by their duration, severity, and impact, as well as the associated appraisals made both by meditators and by meditation teachers and psychiatrists. In some cases, the phenomenology of DLI suggests influences from the lived context of Buddhist meditation cultures. Furthermore, although DLI are normalized in Buddhist meditation culture under certain circumstances, meditation experts also noted the potential severity of meditation-related DLI, with some identifying it as a "red flag" meriting close monitoring if not immediate intervention. Finally, we discuss various explanatory models that could account for the presence, content, and impacts of DLI among meditators, drawing upon the environmental conditions and social contexts of meditation retreats, the role of attention and sensory attenuation in meditation practice, and the ways in which meditation-related DLI can function as a cultural and spiritual "idiom of distress."
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |
Citations in the library
Cites 23
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists PLoS One May 24, 2017
- A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2014
- Prevalence of meditation-related adverse effects in a population-based sample in the United States Psychotherapy Research June 2, 2021
- Jerusalem syndrome The British Journal of Psychiatry 2000
and 18 more in the library