Haha, binge thinking, I love it.
I have struggled with anxiety/depression my whole life and it's led me to use pretty much anything and everything to avoid feeling it. Now that I'm totally sober, I can relate to the feeling of being bombarded by anxious, negative thoughts and feelings. I can say that meditation certainly does help, as does mindfulness. I too notice that when I'm mindful of my thoughts, feelings, actions, I feel much more in control and resist the urge to get sucked in by my anxiety much more easily. Meditation is a tool to strengthen the ability to use mindfulness in day-to-day life.
I'm certainly not an expert on meditation but I can share what I am learning and hopefully it will help you. This is how I use meditation:
I set aside about 10-15 minutes to meditate each morning (sometimes again at night). I start out with a few cycles of breathing in thru my nose and out thru my mouth. Then I breathe only in and out thru my nose. I allow myself to just be; thoughts, feelings, physical sensations all come up, and instead of running away or diving into them, I try to let them pass. Sometimes it helps to say to the thought (not out loud), "Hi, I see you. Thanks" or "No thank you" as a way to validate its existence while at the same time not attaching myself to it. When I notice myself going into a thought, I remind myself to focus on my breath and the process starts again. Sometimes meditation can bring up a lot of feelings of panic and worry; sometimes I feel like I'm about to panic and totally loose control. I know that in these moments it is my anxiety trying to take control--my anxiety hates when I do positive things for myself and don't focus solely on her! Sometimes, while meditating, the moments of peace and clarity can quickly turn into anxiety as well...these moments are enlightening too because they show me how hard it can be to sit with the good in life. After I am done, I like to take my journal and write about the experience: what were the nature or my thoughts? The quantity? What was the dominant feeling? Where did I get stuck? Were there any pleasant moments? What were they like?
The benefit of this process is it's helpful to reflect on throughout my day. For example, if I get panicky while on the train, I can remember feeling panic during my meditation and how it eventually passed when I focused on my breathing instead of on the panic. I can then apply this technique while on the train/at work/with friends, etc and get out of that mindset.
I'm learning that it's definitely a 24/7 job, but it is effective!
I hope that helps!