How healthy is meditation, and what does it actually do for you?

Meditation has its most clearly demonstrated benefit for depression and anxiety. The effect is moderate: for anxiety symptoms, scores drop after eight weeks by an amount comparable to a modest but reliably measurable difference, and that effect is still detectable six months later. The picture for depression is similar. Whether you use meditation alongside another treatment or as the sole approach, it works either way.

For chronic pain there is also a positive signal. The effect is comparable in size to that on anxiety and depression, but the evidence here is less convincing than for the psychological complaints, partly because the studies differ more from one another in design and outcome measurement.

Meditation is not better than other active treatments such as antidepressants or exercise therapy. It is a fully valid alternative, not a miracle cure. People who are already in therapy or taking medication do not need to stop: meditation also works well as a complement. No side effects have been reported, which makes it a low-threshold choice.

For older people who want to do something about their physical fitness, meditative movement forms such as tai chi are strikingly effective. Together with strength training, they rank among the interventions with the largest measurable improvement in physical outcomes for people aged 65 and over.

For a number of popular expectations the evidence is still insufficient. Sleep quality, attention, eating habits, weight and substance use have not been demonstrably improved by meditation in studies to date. That does not mean the effect is absent, but it has not yet been firmly established.