
Is Mindfulness Making Us Ill? - DanBC
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/23/is-mindfulness-making-us-ill
======
nabla9
Usually medicine that actually works has some negative side effects.

Commercialization of mindfulness business seems to cause all kinds of bullshit
quackery as a side effect. There are plenty of minfulness instructors who
don't have sufficient experience and understanding. They just drink the Cool-
Aid and brush aside things that don't sell.

I have been training zen meditation for 15 years and many of my friends are
long time Vipassana meditators. All experienced meditation/mindfullness
teachers know that there can be negative side effects and everyone can't use
the same method as everyone else. Meditation can sometimes trigger mental
illness or trauma. For many people it's good idea to start going into therapy
after they start meditation practice. Unfortunately sometimes people want to
use mindfullness as replacement for medical treatment and/or therapy
(Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is just fine. It's actual therapy
done under supervision of a therapist)

~~~
KingMob
This, 100x. I've meditated vipassana for 10+ years, and am a former monk.

Meditation is beneficial, but it's rarely smooth sailing, and all the
breathless news pieces gloss over that fact.

I've had retreats where in trying to watch my breathing naturally, I ended up
controlling it and hyperventilating so bad I nearly passed out on the cushion.

------
adrianN
I wonder whether negative consequences from mindfulness in cases of depression
might provide support for Depressive Realism [1]. If you problem is that
you're too realistic and that makes you sad, then training yourself to be more
aware of your surroundings might make things worse.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depressive_realism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depressive_realism)

~~~
stegosaurus
Self reflection has rather different effects on me personally depending on the
source of stress.

Taking a moment to contemplate during a short term stressful episode (losing a
wallet, dropping a plate, etc) I find very useful.

For longer term issues, especially those with no clear resolution, I find self
reflection to be negative. One example would be e.g. the state of housing in
the UK. I just have to live with that - further contemplation makes it worse.

~~~
thatcat
mindfulness is usually focused on an autonomic bodily function (breath,
heartbeat, etc.. ) as a way of 'being present', if you focus on abstract
political issues instead that is not being present

~~~
KingMob
You _can_ be mindful of thoughts popping up, it's just harder and requires
more practice, which is why most beginning instructions suggest paying
attention to the body.

