Alone in Thought: The Risks of Meditation from a Psychotherapeutic Perspective
John Wepner
Psychoanalytic Perspectives April 30, 2025 DOI: 10.1080/1551806x.2024.2439359 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that meditation can unintentionally invoke a dissociative process that protects the meditator from experiencing aloneness and inner absence, and outlines three types of dissociation: meditation-related adverse effects, becoming lost in fantasy, and disrupting healthy inner associations. |
Abstract
Meditation in the West is often described as helpful, whether used by individuals to relax or professionally in mindfulness-based treatment approaches. This article explores the lesser-known psychological risks of meditation, drawing on existing research about meditation’s adverse effects along with contemporary psychoanalytic concepts. One psychological risk of meditation is that it may unintentionally invoke a dissociative process to protect the meditator from experiencing aloneness and inner absence. The paper outlines three types of dissociation: meditation-related adverse effects, becoming lost in fantasy, and disrupting healthy inner associations. The experience of meditation is often challenging to describe, as focus is placed on sensory and subjective experience rather than language. For this reason, the author’s first-person accounts of meditation-related distress are included, as well as clinical considerations from his practice. The meditation style discussed is referred to as “open monitoring” among meditation researchers or “just sitting” in Zen Buddhism, a process of sitting still for long periods with eyes closed, without distraction or guidance, while noticing overall experiential awareness.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists PLoS One May 24, 2017
- Prevalence of meditation-related adverse effects in a population-based sample in the United States Psychotherapy Research June 2, 2021
- “Like a Vibration Cascading through the Body”: Energy-Like Somatic Experiences Reported by Western Buddhist Meditators Religions November 24, 2021
- Progress or Pathology? Differential Diagnosis and Intervention Criteria for Meditation-Related Challenges: Perspectives From Buddhist Meditation Teachers and Practitioners Frontiers in Psychology July 29, 2020
- Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs Clinical Psychological Science May 18, 2021
and 4 more in the library