The Dangers of Misusing Mindfulness

In some cases, misusing Mindfulness can be counterproductive.

Over the years, meditation and many of its variants have become deeply rooted in the Western world.

And there are many variants of meditation and Eastern principles with great potential to improve people's lives.

But not everything is rosy. Is Mindfulness good for everyone? Can it solve all the psychological problems that society brings? Read on.

The benefits of Mindfulness

The potential benefits of Mindfulness are undeniable. I myself practice it in my daily life, and sometimes I use it as a tool in therapy.

Mindfulness has become very fashionable over the years in Western countries. Mindfulness arises as a relatively simple, inexpensive tool, accessible to virtually anyone who has access to the Internet or a meditation who has access to the Internet or a meditation class center in their neighborhood.

And many people have seen videos and documentaries about the scientific studies that have been done on Tibetan monks with electrodes on their heads, showing that after years of intense meditation practice, their brain waves are different from those of the typical stressed Western person.

Many books have been written (and sold) on the subject, courses have been given, some companies have even included Mindfulness as part of their employees' work routine (whether they want it or not).

The general idea that is settled in the collective memory is that Mindfulness is useful for everything from treating anxiety or depression problems, to multiply your performance at work or even open the doors to another spiritual reality.

What very few people know is that Mindfulness does not work for everyone. doesn't work for everyone. In specific cases, it can even make things worse.

Possible dangers of Mindfulness for some people

Mindfulness is all the rage, and like all great fads, there are a lot of people making money from it. When someone's finances depend on their ability to sell Mindfulness books, courses or classes, it is difficult to expect that person to show us "the dark side" of meditation.

It is little talked about, but there is a multitude of scientific research that shows how, among all the people who practice Mindfulness, there is always a small percentage of them who relate episodes of anxiety, panic or even derealization.. Obviously, this does not happen to everyone. But it does happen.

The main mistake, from the point of view of experts, is to put too many expectations in Mindfulness as a tool.

Yes, it is very useful in certain clinical cases, it can be extremely helpful in managing stress and day-to-day worries. But Mindfulness, by itself, cannot make depression, anxiety or panic attacks go away.. Especially if people "self-medicate" by watching videos on the internet, without consulting a professional first.

Mindfulness and panic attacks

For example, the case of panic attacks or anxiety. We can understand these problems as an excessive hypervigilance towards certain physical sensations or thoughts.

The person's natural stress response is triggered (by any element of the environment), and the person, perceiving his or her nervous symptoms, becomes more nervous.. Then the bodily sensations and anxious thoughts intensify. Then it keeps escalating, until the person loses control.

If that person, instead of going to a psychologist, decides to start doing Mindfulness on their own, they could increase the chances of experiencing a panic attack during their meditation. Because that is exactly what Mindfulness is all about: becoming more aware of our sensations and thoughts, accepting them and letting them go.

But if the person's problem is precisely hypervigilance or over-reactivity to certain stimuli? could end up activating the whole sequence until the panic attack..

If the person had first gone to a psychology professional, they would have first made an evaluation, a functional analysis, the person's learning history would have been studied. They would have worked on the irrational beliefs that provoke and maintain panic attacks.

And eventually, the person would have been exposed little by little to the feared stimuli, with a hierarchical system and under supervision. Little by little. The person would have been properly prepared.

Mindfulness as an escape from reality

Another error of expectation of many people is to think that by doing Mindfulness, their worries will disappear, or that they will stop experiencing fear, worry or anguish.

Unfortunately, that does not depend on us, unpleasant emotions are an inherent part of life..

Some people start practicing Mindfulness believing the positive dogma that "everything depends on our attitude". And yes, our attitude in reacting to problems is important. But the source of the problems does not go away, because we can never have 100% control of the world..

Precisely, by becoming too obsessed with such ideas, we can put too much responsibility on ourselves. Our families, our bosses, our partners, the politicians of our countries, all have responsibility for the things they do to us.

So, if I convince myself that "everything" depends on my attitude, I am sending myself the message that everything is my fault, my lack of personal growth. And I lose the opportunity to fight for social improvements, for changes of context that do solve many real problems.

Mindfulness is a wonderful tool. But just as you can't build a house with a hammer, you can't solve all psychological problems just by meditating.

Do you suffer from anxiety?

Anxiety doesn't have to be a problem in your life, if you let science be your companion.. I am Luis Miguel Real, psychologist, and over the years I have helped many people to overcome their anxiety and to feel satisfaction in their lives again.

Mindfulness will be just one of the many tools we have at our disposal to work on any psychological problem. Contact me, and we will start working on it as soon as possible.