A bit of a rushed response, but a few quick thoughts: while I applaud the intention to encourage people with mental illness to practice, I think there are several issues with the article.
A.
The matter actually depends on two factors:
1. What is the kind of meditation practised?
2. Is the student properly taught?
This seems to be too simple an analysis. There are many factors involved in whether someone has an adverse reaction to meditation - not just mental illness, the type of practice or the teaching. The classic study on varieties of contemplative experiences (Lindahl et al. 2017) notes that:
the results also challenge other common causal attributions, such as the assumption that meditation-related difficulties only happen to individuals with a pre-existing condition (psychiatric or trauma history), who are on long or intensive retreats, who are poorly supervised, who are practicing incorrectly, or who have inadequate preparation. However, this is not to say that these and other factors do not play a role…
These data are most suggestive of an interaction-based model where meditation practices—on their own—may produce challenging effects, but the specific type of effect, as well as its likelihood, duration, and associated distress and impairment, is influenced by a number of additional factors.
B.
If the meditation involves deliberate concentration, then I agree that people with mental illness should avoid it. Concentration exaggerates things, and since people with mental illness already tend to exaggerate things, developing concentration is very risky for them. If, however, the meditation is about cultivating awareness, complete with right view and right attitude, then it is quite safe for them to meditate—even on their own…
If the student is taught to cultivate awareness instead of concentration, the likelihood of negative effects is much reduced.
I’d be interested to know how you come to this conclusion. I am not familiar with the research in this area, but one trial on the use of MBCT for affective disturbances, Cullen et al. 2021 found that focused-attention outperformed open monitoring with fewer side effects. Additionally, Lindahl et al. study cited above found that adverse experiences were common irrespective of the style of meditation practice used.
C. It may be worth noting that not having a mental illness does not necessarily mean that someone is immune to adverse effects of meditation. In fact, meditation-related adverse effects impact a surprisingly large percentage of meditators studied so far (30 - 50% short-term and 10% term -Goldberg et al. 2022; Britton et al. 2022).
D.
Concentration exaggerates things, and since people with mental illness already tend to exaggerate things, developing concentration is very risky for them.
That said, having right view and right attitude is difficult for people with illnesses like depression or anxiety disorders.
I realise that it is a matter of perception, but these statements come across as rather stigmatising, meaning the article could be interpreted as being quite offensive.
Although I can see the points you are trying to make, the way they are written is problematic. Do people without mental illness tend not to exaggerate? (Are lust and anger not exaggerations?)
Why is it more difficult for a person with mental illness to develop Right View compared to any one else? What evidence do you have for such a statement? And what is your definition of mental illness - does this view extend to people with anxiety or depression, or is it only DID, PTSD and Schizophrenia? On what basis do you distinguish between them?