Meditation works very well for me, for extreme depression and stress..

[ellenrr]

Has anyone tried this and found it helps?

would be interested to know others' experiences.

also SAM-e works for me for depression.

[hlthe2b]

1. I'm glad it works for you... I do sort of meditate but while I take long walks...

I find the rhythmic movement of walking (4-5 miles) early in the morning or late in the evening is pretty conducive to meditating, (or at least what seems to me to be meditative). It does help me clear my mind and dispel any anxiety. I personally find it difficult to sit still and meditate, however.

Whatever works for each of us...

[HereSince1628]

2. I think meditation can work as a palliative, I've seen reports it can be ameliortive

But, I haven't seen anything to suggest it moves towards resolution/cure of problems.

Anything that effectively distracts attention from affective distress can be useful as a palliative activity. And it's my general opinion that this is the level that meditation is promoted.

Whether or not a person can entrain themselves to alternative affective programs that less frequently enter distressing emotional states via meditation remains something of an open question and may have a lot to do with individual variation and susceptibility/openness.

I'm quite good at using meditative states to step out of stressful events in daily life into states of mind that reduce blood pressure, heart rate, etc. My experience with meditation hasn't done much to make me resilient to the emotional triggers themselves. I can catch myself in the midst of bad experiences and be somewhat effective in recovering from them thru meditative techniques...but the reactions that makes experience seem bad hasn't ever gone away

[gvstn]

3. My experience as well.

Get down on your knees (Grew up Catholic) and "pray" for help. Works for me to calm me down and get a sense of relief. I'm not really a believer but some people are and if that works for them so much the better. It is the feeling that there is some bigger community of people/things that brings me to a relatively happy/calm state.

I'm not sure if that is meditation but pushing out the bad and concentrating or allowing only the good works for me.

[shenmue]

4. That's good