The dark side of meditation retreats: Two Americans kill themselves after being ... trends now
Experts have warned of the serious mental health risks of intense meditation following the suicides of two Americans and one Canadian who attended a popular 10-day retreat.
Two of the tragic individuals died while on the trip and another was found dead 10 weeks afterward - with all cases thought to be a result of a negative reaction to the extreme psychological 'therapies' they practised.
The retreats specialized in a type of meditation called Vipassana, which involves sitting in silence for up to 11 hours per day, with talking and even laughing forbidden.
Among the victims is Jaqui McDermott, 22, from Canada, who was found dead about 30 miles from a retreat in 2022 — after driving off in the middle of the night on the ninth day.
A subsequent report revealed the aspiring artist suffered 'constant emotional episodes' in the days beforehand.
Jaqui McDermott, 22, from Canada, was found dead after completing nine of ten days at a Vipassana wellness retreat
Another is 25-year-old Megan Vogt, from Pennsylvania, who friends described as 'fun-loving adventurer' before she attended the retreat in 2017. However, when she returned home after the 10-day trip, she was incoherent, suicidal and suffering psychosis, according to her family's accounts.
Ten weeks later she was found dead, having taken her own life.
In a note found afterward, she had written: 'Please forgive me for doing this. I remember what I did at the retreat. I finally got that memory. I can't live with me.'
Meanwhile, Princeton-educated Ian Thorson's body was found in a cave in Arizona alongside his delirious wife in 2012— after the pair fled from a retreat.
Megan Vogt, 25, jumped from a bridge ten weeks after attending a meditation retreat after becoming psychotic. Ian Thorson, 38, was found dead in a cave after attending a retreat which also taught Vipassana meditation
The pair had been at Diamond Mountain Retreat Center, a secretive Buddhist cult that practices Vipassana alongside other forms of meditation.
Thousands attend Vipassana retreats every year in the hopes of finding 'tranquility' and 'a new path'.
While many claim they had a positive experience at one of America's 14 centers, others have described them as 'like a voluntary prison sentence' and accused teachers of 'exhibiting irresponsible behavior bordering on malpractice'.
Experts warn attendees are starved, with no food allowed after 11am, and deprived of sleep; woken at 4am daily for meditation.
Pictured above is an image of what a room looks like at a Vipassana retreat center in California. The centers have a long waiting list
Pictured above is the dining room at the same Vipassana center
But waiting lists are still rumored to be lenghty, with attendees facing no cost for the experience. Locations are instead kept open by donations.
Many cases of psychosis linked to the intensive meditative therapy promoted by the centers have now emerged, including many hospitalizations.
Madison Marriage, a journalist who investigated the centers for the Financial Times, revealed: 'I've now interviewed dozens of people who've done these retreats and have had the complete adverse reaction. It's almost like kind of jumping off a cliff in terms of their mental health.
'Psychosis is really common.
'So are hallucinations, physical pain, like electrical zaps going up and down their bodies.
'The big one is terror, abject terror.
She added to NPR: 'I had one person email me this week saying, "Thank you for making this podcast because I thought I was
