For the vast majority of people, meditation is an exceptionally safe, low-risk or even no-risk practice with significant benefits for mental and physical health. It is a tool for stress reduction and self-awareness. However, the popular idea that it is 100% safe for 100% of people, 100% of the time, is a slight misconception. Like any potent practice that affects the mind, it carries some potential risks that are important to understand before you dive into the spiritual realm headfirst.
Meditation: A Generally Safe Practice
First, it is essential to state that for most of the population, meditation is overwhelmingly safe. The practice of sitting quietly and focusing on the breath, a sound, or a sensation is a benign and beneficial activity. It is an effective tool for managing the daily stress of a busy mind, calming the nervous system, and improving focus. For individuals in good mental health, the “risks” are minimal and usually amount to nothing more than boredom, restlessness, or a little frustration.
Psychological Risks: The Surfacing of Suppressed Trauma
The most significant risk of meditation is not that the practice causes harm, but that it reveals existing, unresolved harm. The entire purpose of meditation is to quiet the conscious mind’s constant stream of chatter. When this chatter fades, the mental space that opens up can allow suppressed, unconscious material—such as repressed memories, past trauma, and difficult emotions—to come to the surface.
For an individual without a history of significant trauma, this may manifest as a random, sad memory or a burst of unexplained anger, which is uncomfortable but manageable. For a survivor of severe, complex trauma (C-PTSD), this sudden, unguided re-emergence can be destabilizing, overwhelming, and re-traumatizing.
Psychiatric Contraindications: Who Should Be Cautious
While meditation is often prescribed for anxiety and depression, there are specific psychiatric contraindications where the practice is not always recommended, especially without the direct supervision of a clinical professional.
- Active Psychosis: For individuals with conditions like schizophrenia or who are in an active psychotic state, meditation can be dangerous. The practice is designed to dissolve the boundaries of the self and alter one’s perception of reality. For a person already struggling to maintain a hold on consensus reality, this can trigger or worsen delusions and hallucinations.
- Severe Bipolar Disorder: While it can be helpful for the depressive phase, unguided meditation during a manic or hypomanic episode can be destabilizing and potentially intensify the mania.
- Severe PTSD: As mentioned, individuals with severe, unresolved trauma should not begin a deep, unguided meditation practice. A “trauma-informed” approach is essential.
Other Potential Adverse Effects: Depersonalization and Anxiety
Beyond the risk of resurfacing trauma, a small percentage of practitioners report other adverse effects.
- Increased Anxiety: For someone with a severe anxiety disorder, being “forced” to sit alone with their racing, catastrophic thoughts can sometimes increase panic rather than calm it.
- Depersonalization/Derealization: Some practitioners may experience states of depersonalization (feeling detached from oneself) or derealization (feeling detached from external reality). While meditators in some traditions seek this “dissolution of self” (often called the Dark Night of the Soul), for an unprepared person, this experience can be terrifying.
How to Meditate Safely
The simplest way to mitigate these risks is with proper support. As a spiritual adept and meditation coach, I emphasize that the context of the practice matters just as much as the technique.
- Start Slowly: You do not need to sit for an hour on your first day. You can start with fifteen or twenty minutes and gradually lengthen your practice.
- Use Grounding Techniques: If you feel “spacey” or detached, switch from a “witnessing” meditation to one that is firmly grounded in the body, such as the Body Scan or a simple “walking meditation.”
- Seek a Guide: If you have a history of trauma or severe mental illness, do not learn from an app or internet article. Seek a trauma-informed meditation teacher, therapist, or spiritual guide who can provide a safe container for your experience.
It is vital to distinguish between discomfort and harm. Feeling restless, bored, or sleepy is normal discomfort. Feeling a sense of rising panic, intense disorientation, or being re-traumatized is a sign of harm, and you should stop immediately and seek guidance.
