Zen and the Art of Psychotherapy

Emory University neuroscientists say that Zen Buddhist meditation may help treat depression, attention-deficit disorder and anxiety, among other maladies. Neuroscientist Giuseppe Pagnoni, author of “Thinking about Not-Thinking: Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing During Zen Meditation,” says that Zen meditators can disentangle their minds from distracting thoughts.

Unlike other forms of meditation —- for example, imagining yourself on a tropical beach —- Zen discourages mental vacations and “prescribes a vigilant attitude” toward one’s present surroundings, as Pagnoni says. By focusing on the here and now, practitioners are less likely to get carried away, according to Buddhist teaching.

The Emory researchers used brain imaging scans to compare meditators with non-meditators as they performed mental tasks. The Zen meditators stopped their minds from wandering much better than the non-meditators. This in turn reduced the harmful preoccupations that contribute to some mood and other disorders.

However, in severe cases meditation may have no effect. Dr. Mark Epstein, author of “Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective,” said,

“The more entrenched the condition is —- like severe OCD or major depression —- the less helpful meditation will be,” Epstein said. “We should not talk about meditation as a panacea for all that stuff because it’s just setting people up for disappointment.”

I would add that people with severe or chronic disorders should not think they are "failures" at meditation practice if they also seek medical treatment, including medication. My understanding is that many psychiatric disorders appear to have a physiological cause; they are not "just" emotions. We don't expect meditation to heal broken legs, do we?