How 1 in 4 get stressed when they meditate

MEDITATION is meant to make you feel calm and enlightened.

But one in four people – or 25.6 per cent – who took part in a study said they had suffered a ‘particularly unpleasant’ experience, such as feelings of fear and anxiety, while meditating.

Men (28.5 per cent) were more likely to have had a bad experience, than women (23 per cent), according to the University College London research.

Religious people (20.3 per cent) were less likely to report a bad experience than those who were not religious (29.2 per cent). The researchers questioned 1,232 people for the study, which is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Some experts said the findings were an important reminder that meditation can sometimes have a negative impact – especially when it is seen as a potential solution to mental health problems such as feelings of stress.

The study did not assess possible preexisting mental health problems. Lead author Marco Schlosser, a psychiatry researcher at UCL, said: ‘It is important at this point not to draw premature conclusions about the potential negative effects of meditation.’