The Struggle for Sanity: The Misconceptions of Women’s Mental Health Depicted in Literature
The term “mental illness” is a rather thought-provoking one that people often have different interpretations of. Anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder. These are just a few mental illnesses that exist out of many, each ranging in severity and treatment. Around one in five people struggle with some form of mental illness in the U.S. alone, and these are only the cases that are reported and diagnosed. There are thousands, maybe even millions more who suffer in silence due to the negative stigma that surrounds mental illness even today . Even with the various treatment methods, it is extremely difficult for some people to seek help since mental illness is too often misunderstood in many ways. Since the beginning of time, women specifically have been incorrectly labeled and discriminated against when battling mental illnesses. Thanks to literature, we are able to get an idea of how women who struggled with mental illness were treated. Let’s dive back in time as early as the second millennium B.C. to see how mental illness in women was viewed as and how it was handled.
The Wandering Uterus
The first instance of women struggling with mental health dates back to 1900 BC. Women began to display behavior that was considered rather bizarre to people at the time. Some would become irritable and anxious, exhibiting shortness of breath and trouble sleeping. This behavior was blamed on a woman’s failure or disinterest in conceiving, and was referred to as “female hysteria.” What would be commonly known as an anxiety or panic disorder today was determined to be an issue with a female’s uterus, and not her brain (Padda 2012). The term “hysteria” derives from the Greek word, “hystera”, meaning uterus or womb. Hysteria was also sometimes referred to as “the wandering uterus.” Women who failed to become pregnant or were simply uninterested in the idea were believed to have a “dissatisfied uterus” or labeled as “unruly” since they defied what society expected of them. The recommended treatment for female hysteria patients was to engage in sexual activities and to stimulate the affected regions, since it was believed that this could “tame” the uterus or to place it back into a normal position in the body (Padda 2012). If the so-called “medical experts” of that time could see today that there are women who simply do not have a desire to get married or have children and cannot be cured with a vibrator, they’d be completely baffled. Women who were defying the gender norms who would be hailed as strong and independent today were labelled as mentally ill back then, and disturbingly depicts just how misunderstood mental illness really was.
The term “hysteria” explained:
The Rest Cure
Eventually the term “hysteria” died down and was used less and less. However that did not mean that the mistreatment of women with mental illnesses came to a halt. In fact, treatment options became even more absurd. During the 19th century it was determined that women’s mental health struggles originated not from their uterus, but from their brains. Mental illnesses were commonly referred to as “nervous system injuries” since it seemed as if the brain had been hurt. Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell was well-known for specializing in nervous disorders, and was viewed as a father of American neurology (Goldberg 2016). He even discovered the rare pain disorder “erythromelalgia”, characterized by pain, redness and swelling in specifically the hands and feet. This disorder is also called “Mitchell’s disease” (Goldberg 2016). Surely a doctor that had a disease named after him after his discovery of it would mean that he should be a pretty trusted expert, right? Not necessarily. While Dr. Mitchell excelled in some areas regarding health research, he failed to understand mental illness particularly in women.
Dr. Mitchell had a number of female patients suffering from depression and nervous breakdowns. He proposed his own original method of treatment of these illnesses known as “the rest cure.” The rest cure consisted of 6–8 weeks of bed rest and isolation, a high calorie diet, massages and even electrotherapy (Goldberg 2016). He also advised women against physical activities and writing. What was strange about this was that he also had another treatment method designed specifically for his male patients, which included figures like Walt Whitman and Theodore Roosevelt, that was called “West Cure.” If one was prescribed West Cure, he was recommended to “engage in vigorous physical activity… and to write about the experience” (Goldberg 2016). The complete opposite of what was recommended for women. Can you guess which method was more effective?
What is most significant about Dr. Mitchell (even more so than having a disease named after him) was that he was the doctor of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper” that exposed the mistreatment of women with mental illnesses.
The Yellow Wallpaper
“The Yellow Wallpaper” was published in 1892 and was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Gilman struggled with mental illness herself and sadly committed suicide in 1935. During her struggle, she saw Dr. Mitchell for treatment and was recommended the absurd rest cure. Her story features a female narrator named Jane who seems to directly parallel the life of Gilman herself. Jane is suffering from what she calls a “nervous depression” while residing at a vacation home for the summer. She becomes fixated by the yellow wallpaper in one of the bedrooms and is convinced that there is a woman trapped within the wallpaper trying to escape. Jane is advised by her husband John, who is a physician to withhold from writing and to remain in the house while he’s out at work in hopes to cure her madness. John is an exact reflection of Dr. Mitchell and represents everything that was flawed with the rest cure. Jane is unable to cope with being trapped in the house expected to cease all activity. In order to ease her condition, she must partake in activities that keep her busy, such as her writing. Her downfall into insanity by the story’s conclusion can be blamed on the ineffective treatments imposed on her by male doctors who simply could never understand the complexities of mental illness. Her story highlights the extremely difficult reality women were faced with and the limited options to turn to for help since they were not taken seriously.
How Mental Illness in Women became so Misunderstood
Even though Jane from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Gilman herself did ultimately suffer from depression and anxiety, it seemed as if women who sought to achieve more than the domestic life that was expected of them were labelled as “unruly” or “rebellious” and it was believed that they needed to be cured of this so called “madness.” In reality, it seemed as if forcing women who did have a mental illness to stay at home made their conditions worse. It surely was not made easier having to watch their husbands occupy themselves outside of the house with work. It was extremely significant for women to have time to discover themselves beyond the household duties. It could have benefitted greatly to their mental health overall.
Helpful Resources
Today, there are improved treatment options for women struggling with mental illness, such as medication, therapy and counseling with physicians that have a better understanding of mental illnesses today, and are highly unlikely to recommend any sort of rest cure treatment. In 2015, an estimated 21.2% of women suffered some sort of mental illness. However in that same year it was also reported that only 17.8% sought help (Witmer 2012). Below is a link to seek the help of specialists if you are coping with mental illness and looking for treatment options. The negative stigma that surrounds mental health needs to become a thing of the past, just like hysteria and the mind-boggling treatments that were used that failed so many women.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline — 1–800–662-HELP (4357) | SAMHSA
Works Cited
“A Woman’s Greatest Enemy? A Lack of Time to Herself | Brigid Schulte.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 July 2019, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/21/woman-greatest-enemy-lack-of-time-themselves.
Serena, Katie. “The History Of ‘Female Hysteria’ And The Sex Toys Used To Treat It.” All That’s Interesting, 14 June 2019, allthatsinteresting.com/female-hysteria.
Witmer, Jaclyn Psy. D. Lopez. “Brave Conversations: A Women’s Mental Health Summit.” Therapy Group of DC, 27 Apr. 2021, therapygroupdc.com/therapist-dc-blog/brave-conversations-womens-mental-health-summit.
Nyamhistorymed. “Beyond ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Silas Weir Mitchell, Doctor and Poet.” Books, Health and History, 8 Apr. 2016, nyamcenterforhistory.org/2016/04/08/beyond-the-yellow-wallpaper-silas-weir-mitchell-doctor-and-poet.
Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health (nih.gov)
Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Virago Press, 1981.
