Meditation broadly is known for having both risks and rewards[1] (edit: studying qigong I heard occasionally of the dangers of qigong psychosis[2], a related problem). Extreme meditation can produce greater discipline, clarity and so-forth. But it stands to reason it can produce more problematic results too.
I don’t subscribe to asceticism in the least, but the perceived benefits and dangers are subjective and unlikely to be shared with health professionals. What you are referencing sounds like a similar situation.
I believe the least painful life is lived on the middle path so I broadly agree, but not all will.
I don't think it's controversial that meditation practices can be problematic for some people with or predisposed to certain mental health issues. Some people just can't be left to their thoughts. If thoughts are unhealthy and a disorder effects self-regulation of and responses to one's thoughts, meditation may only make things worse, and has proven to do so.
So suicide, onset of manifest schizophrenia, and similar results are not problematic outside Western medicine? Because there's significant and AFAICT largely undisputed evidence of spikes in these phenomena at retreats, schools, etc for meditation.
Other HN commenters have said that it's well known by teachers in the West and IIRC I've read articles that it's also well-known among priests and monks in Eastern traditions--so much so that the ancient practices and teachings incorporate rules and stories designed to address it. The names or labels attached may differ between Western medicine and Eastern religion, but the phenomena are the same and generally considered negative and harmful, nor positive or curative.
It's rare but real. What's to be gained from denying it? It doesn't reflect poorly on meditation in the slightest, it's just an admission of our human frailty and that there are no panaceas.
