Psychiatric Problems Precipitated by Transcendental Meditation
Abstract
Like many procedures, Transcendental Meditation (TM) proves extremely effective when applied to properly selected cases by informed practitioners. It is not a panacea. In fact, when used indiscriminately, there are clinical indications that the procedure can precipitate serious psychiatric problems such as depression, agitation, and even schizophrenic decompensation.
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Meditation attains its therapeutic status by being secularised, that is, by having its mystical context or accoutrements stripped away.
“Seemingly, meditation always achieves its therapeutic status by being secularised, by the shearing away of its 'mystical' context or accoutrements.”
From Terms Of Engagement: Text, Technique And Experience In Scholarship On Theravada Meditation (2019) · cites this paper as Lazarus 1976
There have been reports about meditation's potential for harm stretching back to the 1970s.
“While the major concern of the research literature has been to establish the physical and mental health benefits of meditation practices, there have been reports about its potential for harm stretching back to the 1970s (2, 3).”
From Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation‐based therapies: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [2]
Six studies (11%) reported suicidal ideation and behaviour, including three mentions of suicide attempts across different studies.
“Six studies (11%) reported suicidal ideation and behaviour, including three mentions of suicide attempts across different studies (2, 3, 19).”
From Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation‐based therapies: a systematic review (2020) · cites this paper as [2]
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References 3 · Cited by 86
- Authors
- Lazarus, A. A.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lazarus, Arnold A.
- Venue
- Psychological Reports
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1976-10
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 601-602
- ISSN
- 0033-2941 (ISSN-L)
- 1558-691X
- OpenAlex
- W2325184734
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Reports (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- transcendental meditation, psychiatric adverse effects, depression, agitation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Mental Disorders, Depersonalization, Depression, Female, Humans, Hyperkinesis, Male, Relaxation Therapy, Schizophrenia
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