Famed psychologist Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligence, The Meditative Mind, Vital Lies & Simple Truths) developed a meta-research article in the 1970s listing all the (at that time) known benefits of “Eastern-religious” style meditation. I wonder if those of you who are meditating nowadays would agree or disagree with his list.
Perceptual sharpening
Decreased distractability
Increased autonomic stability
(reduced “fight or flight” response)
I think that meditation can be pretty dangerous for people with our illness. I personally do it very little and only when the mood is right. It can backfire and make me think insane ■■■■ and feel negative and even destructive impulses.
I will be the first to agree that in the hands of any “therapist” with an agenda other than your best interests, meditation can be risky.
And in general, I think that Transcendental Meditation ™ and the “objective focusing” meditations are bad juju for most psych pts because they close doors of perception rather than open them, as well as put the practitioners at risk for cynical manipulation by unscrupulous quacks and gurus.
That said, the mindfulness meditations that open the mind so that it can see what is and separate the truth from the fiction (as in all the stuff the sz voices tell us) can be very helpful to a sz pt who is effectively and appropriately medicated and stabilized.
If one is not effectively and appropriately medicated and stabilized, however, I would wait until one is to start meditating, and only do so with a licensed, professional, mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapist using a research-proven, APA-endorsed psychotherapy like MBBT, MBCT, MBSR, DBT or ACT.
Meditation can be dangerous for those suffering with psychosis - I tried it and it actually worsened my condition.
One must be very careful when practicing meditation, its not for everyone
I also have trouble with meditation. It’s a case of ‘idle hands’… (sigh)
I benefit more from nature walks, drinking tea and listening to classical music, etc. I guess those are how I meditate or connect with myself. Whenever I sit quietly and try to empty my mind, it’s just an invitation for it to fill itself with all the wrong kinds of things.
The intention isn’t to empty the mind, but to accept the thoughts as they past and to keep bringing your attention back to the breath. If my mind is very busy I find it easier sometimes to walk mindfully, body scan or to dance mindfully.
I find mindfulness the most useful and growing practice. To train your attention to other things and live more in your body is incredible. I don’t take meds.
Don’t dismiss meditation. They are all different types of meditation. Christian prayer is one form of meditation. Even something as simple as watching tv can put you into meditation. Please rely less on these toxic, dangerous psychiatric medications and find a form of meditation that works for you.
Please forgive me for being harsh; but, there are many different forms of meditation; Western, Eastern, Native American. One may work for you. If you feel it is causing you problems, don’t do it. It is not just sitting cross-legged on the floor and emptying your mind of thoughts. Meditation is natural and sometimes you are doing it and are not even aware of it. I have had trouble with calming my mind during formal meditatation . But, there are so many other forms that are beneficial. So, please don’t dismiss it outright. I will admit that I have become very much against these psychiatric medications. For me, they are dangerous. But, this is such a personal decision. Each person must make the decision that is best for him/her. But, make the choice that is the best for you, not because you are in awe of the pdoc. I do have some very serious questions about these medications after I have seen what they have done to me and to others. Take care.
When I worked the 12-steps of AA, part of it was meditating on a regular basis. I did occasionally for years. I don’t know if anyone can make generalizations about meditating because there are many, many, different techniques and one of these methods may work better and be safer than others. I used the method my sponsor gave me. I would say that I got two benefits from it. 1) It relaxed me. 2) It relieved stress. But I place meditation in the same category as massage and therapy. It feels good while you’re doing it, but the feelings wear off almost immediately afterward. At least in my experience. I may be alone in this.
Yes; the so-called “mindfulness,” “self-observation,” or “insight” meditations like those used in the mindfulness-based cognitive psychotherapies already mentioned are as you describe. According to an ever growing pile of research, this form of meditation tends to produce significant changes in thought, emotion and behavior, and it is now very widely used by psychotherapists in the US and Europe.
The “object focus,” often sound- or mantra-repeating or “chanting” meditations are designed to “empty” – actually distract awareness from – the mind’s chatter. One can have some interesting “experiences” while doing the object-focus meditations (like TM), but as 77nick77 noted, lasting therapeutic effects are less often seen but can include a gradual lowering of emotional set point and sympathetic (“fight or flight”) pitch of the autonomic nervous system.
I will admit, I have a very difficult time even bothering to meditate with non-treatable psychosis. But, yoga poses are still my relief…Can just think about the pose & relax into it. Keeps mind clear most of time so I don’t do run-on thoughts.
If you can find someone that knows what they are doing it will work. Problem is western society tends to be a quick fix society and takes short cuts. Especially when it comes to learning meditation that are taught over a life time not 5 minutes. Being put in meditation by someone ( a staff member teaching yoga) who doesn’t know what they are doing (in hospital during psychosis) is not something I wish on anyone. It’s put my off most mediation for life.
That’s not what I was taught. I was instructed in Sahaja yoga style meditation where the goal is mental silence. It has not worked out for me well at all. I’ve had such a bad experience that I’ve never looked into other types of meditation. It could be they are better, but I’m pretty happy with a cuppa, a purring cat, and some Vivaldi on my headphones.
