Is Mindfulness a Cure-All?

In my life with bipolar disorder, and my life as a caregiver, I alternately fall in love with mindfulness and despair of it's curing anything:

    When I can be present and listen mindfully to Adrian without reacting defensively, negatively or impatiently, we both come away from the experience feeling more peaceful. 

    When I take the time for a fifteen-minute morning meditation before I begin work, It helps sustain me throughout the day. 

    The more I can stop whatever I'm doing or thinking, take a deep breath, and come back to the present, the better my day goes.

    Yet it takes a certain baseline of composure and well-being for me to allow myself to be mindful.  When I am in the depths of despair and numbing depression, it's hard to be present.  My desire then is only to escape. 

    When I'm in the depths I can't imagine ever feeling peaceful again.  And now, when I'm feeling the abiding peace and joy of being present, I can't imagine not being able to summon up the friendly breath of mindfulness at any time.