I have just listened to a video on YouTube by a biologist who popularizes science. He did a review of literature that adepts of meditation refer to claiming that this literature proves that meditation is this amazingly helpful thing. He started with putting the keyword 'meditation' into PubMed search and indeed there were thousands of articles. He then narrowed down to articles that reported on research that used active controls and go, I think, only 42 articles. He then read them and was appalled at how poor the methodology was. Tiny samples, unsubstantiated and sensationalist claims that then get picked up and broadcast by media. Basically nothing of substance and when you zoom in the actual findings, they may be as rudimentary as 'brain activity was noted by MRI when subjects were meditating'. This biologist clearly likes playing video games - he makes many references to video games in his educational videos - so he said that when he plays video games, an MRI would note activity in his brain, too. It is obvious and proves exactly nothing. It is not specific.

The video was not to discourage meditation if it helps you but to promote critical thinking and awareness of the paucity of actual research, as well as to make consumers aware of the multitude of unsubstantiated claims by gurus and coaches peddling their, commercially available, approaches to do meditation "the right way".

I am going to tell my pdoc about this video because even he, being generally a reasonable person not liable to fall for sensationalist claims, occasionally says that research has found something helpful about meditation.

I found this video vindicating as in the past, back when I would be sent to IOP following hospitalizations, I was irritated to no end by how IOP "teach" meditation and mindfulness as a cure all, cure what ails you, the very thing mental health patients need, and a research-backed practice. Only once, at an IOP for patients recovering from psychosis did we hear that meditation could actually be harmful for people prone to psychosis.

I would post a link to this video but it is not in English.