A ton of benefits. It's a very good habit to pick up. Not a wonder drug though.
>In 2013, researchers at Johns Hopkins identified 47 studies that qualify as well-designed and therefore reliable. Based on these studies, they concluded that there is moderate evidence that meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and pain, but there is no evidence that meditation is more effective than active treatment. [1]
Sorry, what? From the site: "Some research suggests that practicing meditation may reduce blood pressure, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression, and insomnia. Evidence about its effectiveness for pain and as a smoking-cessation treatment is uncertain."
I see "may" for some things, and "uncertain" for others. Nothing on that page says that it's been "thoroughly proven to be beneficial".
No, I wouldn't consider that at all definitive as a study, and the authors specifically note the following:
"This study is limited by the lack of a control group or active comparison clinical intervention that would provide a basis for making a stronger inference about how MBSR might modify the behavioral and neural bases of different types of emotion regulation."
So while MBSR may help some people, this tested one specific method and did not include a control group or test against any other treatment methods.
Now, I'm not suggesting that meditation - MBSR or other - can't be helpful for some people (possibly even the majority of people under certain conditions), but it certainly has not been studied enough to show clear benefits compared to other treatment methods.
Drink enough, sleep enough, eat well, do some sports, meditate. If that doesn't help, good luck with going to the doctors.