References: Retreat & withdrawal

Silent retreats & Vipassana

• Al-Hussaini, A., Dorvlo, A.S.S., Antony, S.X., Chavan, D., Dave, J., Purecha, V., Al-Rahbi, S. & Al-Adawi, S. (2001). “Vipassana meditation: A naturalistic, preliminary observation in Muscat.” SQU Journal for Scientific Research – Medical Sciences, 3(2), 87–92. A pre/post study of participants on an actual 10-day residential Vipassana course, with a control group – the source behind this page’s claim that genuine shifts are common after the format.
• Giridharan, S., Soumian, S., Kumar, N.V. & Godbole, M. (2025). “The Impact of Vipassana Meditation on Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence.” Cureus, 17(9), e93355. A 2025 systematic review finding that effects are intensity-dependent, with retreats producing more sustained benefit than daily practice – the source behind this page’s central distinction between a daily sit and a retreat.
• Montero-Marin, J., Puebla-Guedea, M., Herrera-Mercadal, P., Cebolla, A., Soler, J., Demarzo, M., Vazquez, C., Rodríguez-Bornaetxea, F. & García-Campayo, J. (2016). “Psychological Effects of a 1-Month Meditation Retreat on Experienced Meditators: The Role of Non-attachment.” Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1935. Found non-attachment – observing experience without reacting to it – as the mechanism behind a retreat’s psychological effects, supporting this page’s description of Vipassana as observation without reaction.
• Lindahl, J.R., Fisher, N.E., Cooper, D.J., Rosen, R.K. & Britton, W.B. (2017). “The Varieties of Contemplative Experience: A Mixed-Methods Study of Meditation-Related Challenges in Western Buddhists.” PLOS ONE, 12(5), e0176239. The largest study of its kind on meditation-related difficulties, with valence ranging from strongly positive to genuinely distressing – the source behind this page’s note that intensive retreats can surface real psychological difficulty for a minority of participants, and why most centres screen applicants.