Sick from mindfulness? Intense meditation can cause psychological suffering. As part of their study, researchers from the Charité Berlin found undesirable side effects in 22 percent of the approximately 1,400 participating test subjects who meditated.
In around nine percent of these, the side effects were classified as temporary and mild. However, the other 13 percent had moderate to extreme opposite effects. These were permanent and required treatment or even hospital stays. Those affected suffered, for example, from panic attacks or delusions.