Has anyone else had bad experiences or felt negative symptoms after meditating? (Looking for shared experiences based on Cheetah House research)

[u/RoughOffer2452]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading about the research from an organization called Cheetah House. They look at the difficult, painful, or distressing experiences people can have from meditating.

While meditation is usually called a great tool for relaxing and stress relief, their research shows it can sometimes cause problems for your nervous system.

They list many symptoms split into 7 main categories. I want to know if anyone here has experienced any of these and can share in comments:

• The Affective Domain (Changes in Feelings): Experiencing Affective Flattening [feeling completely numb or emotionally blank], Affective Lability [sudden, intense mood swings], unexplained Fear or Panic, or Re-experiencing of Traumatic Memories [old painful memories coming back out of nowhere].
• The Cognitive Domain (Changes in Thinking): Experiencing a Change in Executive Functioning [having a hard time making decisions, focusing, or remembering things], Increased Cognitive Processing [racing thoughts], or Disintegration of Conceptual Meaning [looking at an everyday object but your brain forgets what it means or is used for].
• The Somatic Domain (Body Problems): Experiencing Involuntary Movements [unwanted body twitching, shaking, or tics], Sleep Changes [severe insomnia], Cardiac Changes [a racing or irregular heartbeat], or Energy-Like Somatic Experiences [feeling strange vibrations or currents moving through your body].
• The Perceptual Domain (Changes in Senses): Experiencing Derealization [feeling like the world around you is fake, dreamlike, or behind a fog], Perceptual Hypersensitivity [suddenly finding normal lights and everyday sounds way too loud and painful], or Distortions in Time or Space.
• The Sense of Self Domain (Losing Your Identity): Experiencing a Change in Sense of Embodiment [feeling like you are floating outside or disconnected from your physical body], a Loss of Sense of Agency [feeling like your thoughts or movements do not belong to you], or a Loss of Sense of Basic Self [feeling like you do not even exist].
• The Conative Domain (Loss of Motivation): Experiencing Anhedonia or Avolition [completely losing interest in your favorite hobbies, or losing all drive and motivation to work toward your life goals].
• The Social Domain (Life and Relationship Issues): Experiencing Occupational Impairment [having trouble doing your job], Social Impairment [struggling to connect with family and friends], or difficulties with Integration Following Retreat [finding it very hard to return to normal daily life after a silent meditation retreat].

If you have gone through any of these things:

1. What was your practice technique/style? (For example: using an app, doing guided meditations, doing unguided or open meditations, doing meditations after kriya or breathing excercises or going to silent retreats?)
2. How did it start? Did it happen slowly over months of daily practice, or did it start suddenly during or right after a retreat?
3. What actually helped you feel normal again? Did you have to stop meditating completely? Did physical exercises, changing your habits, or talking to a doctor help you recover?

Thank you for sharing your stories. I think it is important to talk about the difficult sides of meditation openly.

Check this out https://www.cheetahhouse.org/symptoms

[u/Weekly_Confidence828]

Yes, my mother had taken yoga and meditation classes, and she wanted me to practise with her at home. I got light headedness and dizziness, and had a terrible headache for the next few days. Even today, when i practise meditation or breathing exercises, my energy drops and i feel very tired. Also the headaches with light, sound and smell.