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Thread: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

  1. #1
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    Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Good morning,

    Can someone help me rationalise this please?
    It's driving my panic at the moment, and has put me in a really bad way.

    I was Googling the benefits of mindfulness last night to try and get my head into doing it again, but was frightened after what it did to me last time, as trying to sit with thoughts, quietly, is what I fully believe has made me so much worse. I came across loads of reports and information that mirrors exactly what has happened to me. The amplification of issues, the intense derealisation, the constant lingering introspection, it's all what has happened to me, exactly, and I still can't get out of my own head to this day. It's like a switch was flicked, and I can't get out of it again.

    I'm scared that my efforts to 'sit with thoughts', that I took way too far early last year, under the advice of my therapist then, have permanently damaged my mind.

    The links below are just two of the negative assessments of mindfulness, so obviously don't read them if mindfulness helps you.

    Thank you.

    https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.p...h-anxiety/amp/

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...-making-us-ill

  2. #2
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Mindfulness can't permanently damage the brain.
    If it doesn't suit you, don't do it. It's only a lifestyle choice after all, not a toxic assault on the cerebral cortex. It's not mandatory.

  3. #3
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    I'm mindfully eating two Garibaldi's.. (dead fly biscuits)
    __________________
    A thought is harmless unless we believe it.

  4. #4
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Mindfulness is really only slowing down and taking more notice of things.

  5. #5
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    "It’s the relaxation technique of choice"



    Said the first line of the Guardian article.

    That's a fundamental inaccuracy, and if they don't even know what mindfulness is, how can the article have any meaning whatsoever. It's not even remotely a relaxation technique.


    Your issue with mindfulness is you, not the mindfulness. It's how you process the thoughts you experience that's the issue.

  6. #6
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Quote Originally Posted by PHR View Post
    It's like a switch was flicked
    Yes... for me its hard to turn it off sometimes. There is such a thing as being over hyper aware of your thoughts. Actually, you *could* modify it a bit, and when alone with your thoughts, try being mindful of your surroundings and what keeps you grounded. The goal is to disconnect the emotion(s) from the feelings/symptoms (whats nagging you), not to disconnect from reality totally, or have it turn to derealisation. Yeah, I wouldn't say its a relaxation technique.

  7. #7
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Quote Originally Posted by pulisa View Post
    Mindfulness can't permanently damage the brain.
    If it doesn't suit you, don't do it. It's only a lifestyle choice after all, not a toxic assault on the cerebral cortex. It's not mandatory.
    I meant that my previous efforts had forced me so far into my own head, and made me so aware of the workings, that I'm derealised and 'stuck in my own head' because of it.

    My previous therapist had me analysing my thoughts, and stuff, and that's when this derealisation and reality questioning started.

    It's like I've opened a door that I can't now close.

  8. #8
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Quote Originally Posted by ankietyjoe View Post
    "It’s the relaxation technique of choice"



    Said the first line of the Guardian article.

    That's a fundamental inaccuracy, and if they don't even know what mindfulness is, how can the article have any meaning whatsoever. It's not even remotely a relaxation technique.


    Your issue with mindfulness is you, not the mindfulness. It's how you process the thoughts you experience that's the issue.
    It was more the other article to be honest, even I could tell that one had an agenda.

    The article that more lightly discusses problems that arise for people with Mindfulness basically lists how my anxiety took a turn for the worst... Increased Self Awareness, Depersonalisation Experiences, Emotional Upheavals and Relaxation as an Anxiety Trigger. If you think over my last 8 months of basically moaning, they are all the things that happened to me after my previous therapist had my doing versions of these techniques. They are also things that I never had a problem with before hand. If I had nothing to do, and could just chill out all day, I could do that and feel great, now I can't without huge anxiety. It just seemed odd seeing the activity I blame for my anxiety getting worse, being linked with exactly what has gone wrong for me.

  9. #9
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Quote Originally Posted by Scissel73 View Post
    Yes... for me its hard to turn it off sometimes. There is such a thing as being over hyper aware of your thoughts. Actually, you *could* modify it a bit, and when alone with your thoughts, try being mindful of your surroundings and what keeps you grounded. The goal is to disconnect the emotion(s) from the feelings/symptoms (whats nagging you), not to disconnect from reality totally, or have it turn to derealisation. Yeah, I wouldn't say its a relaxation technique.
    I have been like this now for months, stuck in my own head, derealised, basically trying to find a way back to getting my focus on the outside world again. It's weird, and razing them things just made sense, that I've actually forced myself to be this way, and now I don't know how to do the opposite, almost. If that makes any sense! 🤦*♂️

  10. #10
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    Re: Adverse effects of mindfulness?

    Exercise increases my anxiety.

    Should I stop exercising, or should I manage my reaction to it?

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