ArticlePloS one2019
Unpleasant meditation-related experiences in regular meditators: Prevalence, predictors, and conceptual considerations.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Individual differences in meditation interventions: A meta-analytic study.British journal of health psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Mantra-Based Meditation on Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Mindfulness related changes in grey matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain imaging and behavior · 2021Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in adults in nonclinical settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.PLoS medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of mindfulness breathing meditation on stress and cognitive functions: a heart rate variability and eye-tracking study.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Symptom reduction in kidney transplant patients from 20-minute mindful breathing: a randomized controlled trial.BMC nephrology · 2025Trial
- Impact of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Symptoms and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Young Adolescents From the General Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Depression and anxiety · 2025Trial
- Meditation dosage predicts self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness to an 18-month randomised controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Do mindfulness interventions cause harm? Findings from the Learning to Apply Mindfulness to Pain (LAMP) Pragmatic Clinical Trial.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2024Trial
- Altered states of consciousness caused by a mindfulness-based programme up to a year later: Results from a randomised controlled trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Effects of a Brief Electronic Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Relieving Prenatal Depression and Anxiety in Hospitalized High-Risk Pregnant Women: Exploratory Pilot Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Trial
- Neurofeedback Treatment Affects Affective Symptoms, But Not Perceived Cognitive Impairment in Cancer Patients: Results of an Explorative Randomized Controlled Trial.Integrative cancer therapiesTrial
- Beyond psychedelic exceptionalism: how people combine meditation with psychoactive substances, and how this relates to well-being.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The Effectiveness and Exploratory Cost-Effectiveness of Regular Meditation for Improving Quality of Life: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- "Coming Correct": Conducting Community Engagement Studios to Adapt Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for the Chronic Pain-Depression Comorbidity Among Older Black Adults.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2026Article
- Validation of the cognitive fusion questionnaire in regular meditators and persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The role of decentering and self-compassion in self-esteem regulation: how meditation and metacognition shape the use of self-esteem regulation strategies.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A Bayesian framework for happiness, health, and psychological well-being.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- "I know it will make me feel better": a grounded theory of sea gazing and well-being for women in midlife.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Do Contemplative Practices Promote Trauma Recovery? A Narrative Review from 2018 to 2023.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
So far, the large and expanding body of research on meditation has mostly focussed on the putative benefits of meditation on health and well-being. However, a growing number of reports indicate that psychologically unpleasant experiences can occur in the context of meditation practice. Very little is known about the prevalence and potential causes of these experiences. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences in a large international sample of regular meditators, and to explore the association of these experiences with demographic characteristics, meditation practice, repetitive negative thinking, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Using a cross-sectional online survey, 1,232 regular meditators with at least two months of meditation experience (mean age = 44.8 years ± 13.8, 53.6% female) responded to one question about particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences. A total of 315 participants (25.6%, 95% CI: 23.1 to 28.0) reported having had particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences, which they thought may have been caused by their meditation practice. Logistic regression models indicated that unpleasant meditation-related experiences were less likely to occur in female participants and religious participants. Participants with higher levels of repetitive negative thinking, those who only engaged in deconstructive types of meditation (e.g., vipassana/insight meditation), and those who had attended a meditation retreat at any point in their life were more likely to report unpleasant meditation-related experiences. The high prevalence of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences reported here points to the importance of expanding the scientific conception of meditation beyond that of a (mental) health-promoting and self-regulating technique. We propose that understanding when these experiences are constitutive elements of meditative practice rather than merely negative effects could advance the field and, to that end, we conclude with an overview of methodological and conceptual considerations that could be used to inform future research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.