Today’s lovely crochet mandala comes from Kelly Herrington in England who writes:
“I was deeply saddened by the news of Wink’s passing. My heartfelt condolences to her family. May the memories of Wink help you find peace.”
She adds a quote by Helen Keller:
“What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
This beautiful openwork mandala is Wink’s crochet mandala pattern called The Lazy Shade of Winter. We’ve also seen this pattern recently from Treble Stitch and previously from Katy. See more crochet mandala patterns here. I love Kelly’s selection of colors here, incorporating darkening shades of pink and purple with blues and greys.
When I shared Katy’s contribution, I mentioned ECT (electroconvulsive shock therapy) as a treatment option for people with chronic, treatment-resistant depression, and in my post of Brenda’s mandala I shared some additional extreme options like this, options that are certainly not the first choice for anyone but may be the right choice for some severe cases of the condition. One that I didn’t mention, because I only just recently learned about myself, is the cingulotomy. A 2008 research article explains:
“Anterior cingulotomy (ACING) is a neurosurgical treatment for chronic refractory depression, pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anterior cingulotomy involves the placement of bilateral lesions in the anterior cingulate under stereotactic guidance.”
In other words, this is serious surgery where you cut into the brain of the individual to help relieve severe, debilitating, chronic conditions. It is basically a modern (safer, more predictable) alternative to the lobotomy (done today with lasers). Columbia Neurosurgery reminds us:
“Cingulotomy is a non-reversible procedure and is therefore reserved for those patients in whom all other options have been exhausted.”
That said, cingulotomy surgery has been successful in treating depression for some people. For example, Sheila Cook, a nurse in her 60s who suffered with extreme chronic depression and suicidal impulses, had the surgery in 2011 and said it was the first time she felt happy in ten years. This treatment has been used more for OCD treatment than depression but is seeing new possibilities in treatment depression in recent years.
Thank you for posting this. I have treatment resistant depression and OCD. I hope a congultomy can help me and am looking into the procedure now. Fingers crossed!