For me personally - the benefits from meditation were obvious but I think that was because I'm pretty neurotic and was in a really stressful life situation.

It was like ibuprofen for my suffering mind. Not that it helped immediately - but after a prolonged practice I noticed that suddenly my mind was not in psychic pain and I could just take the situation at hand without unnecessary added stress.

So, I suppose the perceived results might depend on the life situation at hand (ambient stress factors, so to speak).