4 ms·

> Megan mentioned that she had stopped taking her medication. She had been on the lowest therapeutic dose of Zoloft for mild anxiety since her early twenties.

• BluSyn 6y ago
  I was thinking the same thing. This example is less about the potential negatives side-affects of meditation, and more about the care one should take when getting off serious medications. Most retreat centers (and other "guides") usually suggest several weeks or more of no medication before going on your "journey". The side affects of getting off medications, especially ones she apparently was taking for years, can not be underestimated in this story. It's also clear she was prone to emotional instability before the retreat, and like any treatment -- pharmaceutical or otherwise -- it can have side-affects that need to be managed, dosages that need to be tweaked, etc. This story also ignores the 90+% of people who have profound experiences on these Vipassana retreats. Just know what you are getting into, and know it can be very very intense even for those who have practiced meditation for years.
• Baeocystin 6y ago
  Talk about burying the lede. I was on a low dose of Zoloft for only a few months, and the brain zaps* I experienced when I stopped were resoundingly unpleasant, and lasted for several weeks. I could easily picture someone in an already fragile mental state being pushed over the edge because of them. (*that's what the phenomenon is called: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201710/what-causes-brain-zaps https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/...)