Frantic thoughts - should I be meditating?

[wer]

This last year has been a really intense one for me. I've been suffering from anxiety and depression, which have been declining slowly, but I've also been experiencing intense personal changes. I guess the correct word for what I'm going through is individuation. I also quit abusing substances about a year ago, which is partially the cause of my anxiety.

I've been contemplating on whether or not I should be pursuing meditation right now during this pivotal point in my life. Do you guys think that there are times when one should not try and clear one's mind? Are there times when thoughts should be allowed to take their course?

Should I wait until my mind settles to begin my training?

[ButterflyWoman]

I can only speak from my own experience when I say that meditation has been a tremendously powerful tool for me in getting a handle on my own panic/anxiety disorder. Just getting my noisy, annoying, and constant thoughts to be quiet for a little while was, for me, the start of being able to see the panic/anxiety as just a kind of thought/emotion, and start learning how to first roll with it until it passed, then nip it in the bud before it got going, and eventually, not happen at all.

I also had to deal with depression and with post traumatic stress disorder (which is linked to the panic disorder, in my experience), and meditation helped all of that.

I always recommend meditation as a tool in learning to deal with stress, anxiety, panic, PTSD, etc. It has worked wonders for me.

[wer]

Thanks for the advice OlderWiser. You're success has convinced me to at least try meditation as a tool to deal with this issues.

[ButterflyWoman]

Just do keep at it. It can take quite a while to learn all this stuff. Be patient with yourself. ;)