The Mentally Ill: 19th Century v. Today After initially reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, the reader tends to trust the narrator’s judgment. However, when one explores beyond the literal meaning of the text, they find that the narrator’s “temporary nervous depression” has distorted her sense of reality. It is the reader’s duty to separate fact from fiction in the story. Once the reader has separated the two, the story’s underlying message, regarding the issue of mental illness in the 19th century, becomes apparent. By examining this story and various studies pertaining to mental illness, one can conclude that, treatments, living conditions, and perceptions of the mentally ill have improved drastically since the story’s 1892 publication. The story opens with the narrator moving to a new “home.” She initially describes the house as a “mansion”, and continues by describing it as a “haunted house.” These words both come to mind when thinking about insane asylums; as asylums tend to be large in size and are often associated with suffering and death. The narrator describes the estate as having, “hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people” Hedges and shrubbery are often planted to create a natural barrier. Because insane asylums were not widely accepted, it makes sense that they would plant hedges to shield the building/s from society. The walls and gates that lock sound similar to those of a prison. During this time, asylums were essentially that, a prison. The locked gates were used to keep patients from escaping and to create a sense of security in the surrounding communities. The little houses the narrator mentions are likely living quarters for other... ... middle of paper ... ...tical Analysis of a Scottish Insane Asylum." Historical Social Research / Historische Sozialforschung 17.3 (1992): 3-20. JSTOR. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. . Phelan, Jo C., Bruce G. Link, Ann Stueve, and Bernice A. Pescosolido. "Public Conceptions of Mental Illness in 1950 and 1996: What Is Mental Illness and Is It to Be Feared." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 41.2 (2000): 188-207. JSTOR. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. . "Postpartum Depression: What Is It, and What Causes It?" WebMD. N.p., 5 Nov. 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. . "Psychotic Depression: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, and More." WebMD. Ed. Joseph Goldberg, MD. N.p., 24 July 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” has opened many people’s eyes since it was first published in 1892. In the beginning readers only acknowledged Gilman’s story as showing how women with mental illnesses were treated by physicians during the 1800’s. They overlooked the deeper meaning the text contained, and it was not until later that readers discovered it. Eventually, “The Yellow Wallpaper” became known as feminist literature. Gilman does a great job showing how women suffered from inadequate medical treatment, but above that she depicts how nineteenth century women were trapped in their roles in society and yearned to escape from being controlled by males.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes “The Yellow Wallpaper,” to show how women’s mental illness is addressed in the time. Women were treated as the lesser or weaker sex. Women’s mental illness was highly misunderstood and misdiagnosed. “The Yellow Wallpaper,” illustrates a feminist approach to mental disease. Gilman uses this work to reach out to others to help them understand a woman’s treacherous descent into depression and psychosis. There are many contributing factors to the narrator’s illness and it is easy to see the effect the men have on her. Women were treated very differently and often outcast if they did not meet a certain norm. Mental illness is one of the main factors men believe
Through a woman's perspective of assumed insanity, Charlotte Perkins Gilman comments on the role of the female in the late nineteenth century society in relation to her male counterpart in her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper." Gilman uses her own experience with mental instability to show the lack of power that women wielded in shaping the course of their psychological treatment. Further she uses vivid and horrific imagery to draw on the imagination of the reader to conceive the terrors within the mind of the psychologically wounded.
In the 1950’s, it was common so see people with frightened, uneasy, rejecting, and even arrogant attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. They considered those who were mentally ill as psychotic, violent and frightening. In the today, people are more accepting and understanding when it comes to mental illness, but some people are still ignorant with their responses, just like back then. In the 1950’s mental health treatment was typically provided in large state hospitals and other intuitions. Back then, topics like mental health were kept hush hush; people much rather putting those who were mentally in away in a state facility where someone else could monitor them. Today, people are more understanding.
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness. If we continue to not help them, and to foster their illness, it will only get worse.
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Asylum: A History of the Mental Institution in America. Dir. Sarah Mondale. Stone Lantern Films, Inc. 1988. Film.
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Corrigan, Watson and Ottati (2003) argue this strong stigma has legitimized a historically inequitable system of treatment for those with mental illness. As far back as the Middle Ages, the mentally ill were sent to prisons because they were perceived as dangerous. Beginning in the 19th century, they were transitioned to asylums and hospitals due to the widely held belief that they were not only dangerous, but also i...
...my L., & Woolf N. (2010). The Enigma of Schizophrenia. In L. Jewell (Ed.), Psychology: a framework for everyday thinking (pp. 479-483). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Gilman tries to show that according to her husband, the narrator continually brings her great depression upon herself. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman also attempts to show that the lack of social exposure, physical repression, and ugly wallpaper cause the treatment to be extremely ineffective and detrimental. The disorder which is being treated is actually strengthened to the point of a serious mental illness. Similarly in today’s society, medical and psychological advice may have the same effect. Medical technology and practice have progressed considerably since the time of the “Yellow Wallpaper.” This is not to say that today’s physicians are infallible. Perhaps some of today’s treatments are the “Yellow Wallpaper” of the future .
Chakaburtty, Amal. "Psychotic Depression." 1 Mar 2010. n.pag. Depression Health Center. Web. 13 Nov 2011.
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.