The Webs we Weave: A Patient with Depression

Looking back over C.'s records, I was struck by a phrase I had used to describe her, "She really seems at a loss as to what she should do with herself. " A more accurate appraisal might have reflected my own uncertainty as to how I could help C. Hospitalized eight times in eight years after serious suicide attempts, she had been treated with neuroleptics, antidepressants, psychotherapy, and been involved with a day program. Once again she was in the hospital , severely depressed following a suicide attempt. There was little the psychiatric establishment had not tried . So I taught her to knit.