Why I Wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper?"

Jacqueline Procter
Journal 16
March 7, 2008
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Quote:
“ I went home and obeyed those directions for some three months, and came so near the border line of utter mental ruin that I could see over.”

“ But the best result is this. Many years later I was told that the great specialist had admitted to friends of his that he had altered his treatment of neurasthenia since reading The Yellow Wall-paper.

Summary:
Dr. Weir Mitchell, considered an authority on neurasthenia, prescribed total bed rest with limited mental stimulation, as a prescription for “nervous disorders.” This treatment nearly destroyed Gilman and was her inspiration in writing the Yellow Wallpaper, which caused Dr. Mitchell to alter his treatment plan, after reading The Yellow Wallpaper

Response:
I have much respect and admiration for Charlotte Gilman because it took a tremendous amount of courage to write about her own mental illness; although, it appears that neurasthenia sufferers weren’t ostracized socially due to the stigma associated with mental illness, like it is today, as it was mostly incurred by women of the upper class.
She achieved her goal of educating women and Doctors in the erroneous methods of treating neurasthenia. She may have been depressed, but the treatment of bed rest with no mental stimulation almost drove her completely mad. The hands and brain need stimulation and perhaps that was why women of a lower class didn’t suffer neurasthenia as they were too busy working – especially in the home.
In matters of one’s health, a person needs to trust their intuition, which Gilman did, as well as doing research on their condition, instead of trusting a doctor completely with their health/life. Too often, doctors are treated like God’s and the problem is they believe the hype as well, which accounts for their over inflated egos. I’m not saying I could perform surgery, but it’s infuriating when the patient has to educate the doctor because they haven’t bothered to keep up with the latest research.
Originally, I thought Gilman suffered from schizophrenia because of her visual hallucinations in the story, but because her body of work is so insightful, thought provoking, and sane, I think that can be ruled out