Thank you all so very much for all the feedback!
NoDogma: Yes, I believe my mom's initial diagnosis was bipolar, although she hasn't had extreme mood swings. But again, I have felt the mainstream psychiatrists are eager to prescribe medication without spending enough time with the patient.
small paws: so kind of you to share your thoughts and experiences. I am glad you came out of your difficulties successfully. I guess my mom's experience also tells that intensive meditation techniques are not for everybody. What you said about ego/self esteem resonates with my observations as well. For example, My mom is generally of low self esteem and is highly sensitive and I have sensed that she often becoming even more sensitive as a result of her spiritual practices. So it seems building a strong base/anchor with healthy self esteem may be the priority for such individuals. I hate to connect it with chakras (with my limited knowledge on the subject) - but I have often felt that people like my mom (that includes me as well) lack healthy functioning of the lower chakras, but think of themselves as upper chakra persons, incorrectly so. They are perhaps eager to evolve to higher levels, to be selfless etc, but without a heathy sense of self they are always up in the air, never able to achieve anything substantial and thereby never building a strong healthy self esteem.
BlueRaincoat: Thanks for your thoughts and info on breath meditation.
I am thinking I will suggest my mom to take a break from DM. Perhaps guided forms would be helpful - I will update what we find and how our experience goes with this ... if that would be helpful to others.
Thanks all