How your stress can rise if you meditate

IT IS meant to leave you calm, confident and content – but it turns out meditation may actually stress you out.

During research into so-called meditation sickness, scientists found it could cause insomnia, anxiety and hypersensitivity to light and sound.

Touted as an antidote to the frantic pace of modern life, meditation is practised by millions around the world.

But while some people felt bliss from having to concentrate on their breathing, others were left in pain or struggled to cope with normal life.

Explaining the symptoms, the US researchers said meditation could cause problems by mimicking sensory deprivation.

People who spend a long time with their eyes closed and very still in a silent environment can find the noise and light of normal life too much for them.

Willoughby Britton, assistant

‘Some people panic when they relax’

professor in the psychiatry department at Brown University, Rhode Island, said: ‘There is a phenomenon called “relaxationinduced panic”, where some people have increased anxiety or panic when they relax. This is one possible mechanism for why meditation could lead to increased anxiety.’

Lead author Professor Jared Lindahl said: ‘A study on insomnia has suggested that, while meditation is often associated with relaxation, it in fact arouses the frontal region of the brain.’

Dr Britton added: ‘This may explain why the research on meditation and sleep has shown mixed results, and why some people, especially on intensive meditation retreats, report insomnia or reduced need for sleep.’

The report claims that people could suffer ill effects from doing less than an hour of meditation.