As Ben said, mindfulness is just one piece of the puzzle. For me, I'm very mindful of the feelings that are arising, and I have an understanding of the process, but I still lack the ability to fully allow the discomfort of the urges to just be; there is definitely a lot of identifying. A holistic approach has to be incorporated and it takes a lot of work on the individuals part to undo all of their habitual tendencies before they finally go away.
Imo, eating disorders are a great example of papanca (conceptual proliferation)! If I step on the scale and it reads something like 99 lbs, instead of seeing the number, I will begin to associate it with myriad thoughts of "Oh - I'm gaining weight!", "I don't like this number.", or "I must lose weight!" instead of just seeing a number. Eating disorders usually start out very innocently - either as diets or comfort eating - but they soon turn into something that overtakes us. Papanca in action!
I don't think that it is accurate to say that someone who is impulsive or depressive should be excluded from the benefits of mindfulness - that is just like saying that you are too dirty to take a bath! Of course, I'm not a psychologist hahaha
