A Systematic Review of Effects of Long-Term and Advanced Meditation on Mental Health: Psychiatric Symptoms, Stress, and Challenging Events
Terje Sparby, Jerron Chan, Oliver Andersson Hugemark, Vanessa Naughton, Matthew D. Sacchet
August 19, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/zve4w_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Advanced and long-term meditation appears to confer deeper mental health benefits than non-advanced practice, but the evidence base has major gaps: inconsistent terminology, minimal adverse event monitoring, and no established frameworks for distinguishing transformative challenges from psychopathology onset. |
Abstract
Meditation research has grown considerably, yet its clinical implications for advanced and long-term practitioners remain poorly understood. Meditation’s mental health implications extend beyond benefit, encompassing psychiatric risk, adverse experiences, and differentiating between meditative progress and psychopathology. This review synthesizes evidence on how advanced and long-term meditation affects psychiatric symptomatology, stress, and challenging practice-related experiences. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search across PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase on April 5, 2026 identified 1,229 articles, of which 52 met inclusion criteria following rigorous screening. Although findings suggest advanced practice confers deeper mental health benefits than non-advanced practices, significant literature gaps remain. Terminology is inconsistent across studies, adverse event monitoring is largely absent, and no established frameworks exist for distinguishing between potentially transformative challenges and the onset of psychopathology. Addressing these gaps demands safety-centered research protocols, clear risk stratification criteria, and evidence-based clinical guidelines governing contraindications and appropriate practitioner support.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |