
In the Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Gillman she the narrator is diagnosed with hysteria. The only treatment for this back then during the postmodern era was the “rest cure”. The “rest cure” is when a doctor or care taker treats a mental illness like hysteria, insanity, or depression. During the rest cure no one could leave their rooms for weeks or months at a time and must do no work.  During the rest cure, “The patient [is] instructed to lie in bed for 24 hours each day, sometimes for months at a time,” (Martin). This literally can cause someone to go crazy just like Gillman. Studies have proven, “prolonged inactivity in healthy volunteers… have confirmed that the adverse physiological effects are both profound and prolonged” (Sharpe). In the Yellow Wallpaper, the rest cure makes Gilman’s condition worse because all she did was stair at the wall all day and couldn’t focus on her work, which was writing. The narrator experienced the same effects due to the rest cure. Since this book, the rest cure has been on a slow decline not only because of the negative effects on the mind and body, but also the suppression of the minds of women. because of the way it destroys peoples mind and was a way to suppress the minds of women. The rest cure was just another way for men to gain power over women. This happened because, “of the paternalistic nature of 19th-century medicine” (Martin).

In the first article, Putting the Rest Cure to Rest by Michael Sharpe and Simon Wessely, it talks about how the resting cure has been proved to be an ineffective method of curing psychological related diseases. The main problem with the rest cure is that it can cause prolonged physiological effects a number of negative effects to one’s health. Some of these effects from the rest cure, “include chronic fatigue syndrome, loss of sleep, poor sleep, postural hypotension, and fatigue.” (Sharpe). This therapy also warps one’s mind and destroys your physical health as well. Studies show that controlled exercise is highly recommended when on the rest cure. The main reason why exercise is so good in this case is because it is really a morale booster. It is a major confidence booster and reduces the fear of the consequences of exercise. Without some sort of exercise one will develop “adverse physiological effects” (Sharpe). The last people to stop using the rest cure as an actual diagnosis was the Victorians. They were also among the first to use it as well. They used it because it was easy to diagnose. This cure was more of a last resort type thing when there was nothing else to do. This caused “clinics that once provided [the rest cure to change] to more active treatments and to the newer psychotherapies” (Sharpe).

The “The Yellow Wallpaper” relates to the first article because it shows how bad the rest cure is not effective in the slightest and how it is so bad for a person and that it put women down and raised men up. As the article describes, the rest cure can create or make one have psychological problems, leading to physical handicap, like the narrator had in her book the Yellow Wallpaper. The effects of the narrator’s capabilities are present when she speaks of her fatigue saying, “Half the time now I am awfully lazy, and lie down ever so much” (Gilman 305).  Gilman displays the chronic results of the rest cure’s psychological effects through the narrator’s confinement to her room and the extremities to which her husband keeps her there. The narrator also embodies the effects force feeding can have, such as anxiety and depression development. These effects are supported by the American Space Program study “confirming the adverse physiological effects are both profound and prolonged” (Sharpe). Another thing that Gilman displayed was since she got forced into inactivity for a long period time she developed anxiety, where maybe if she would have been doing work she could have kept her mind off the depression. Gilman says, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (300). If she could have done work or exercise like the article said and she said, then her depression could have been cured. Another example of this is, “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me” (Gilman 300). Instead she was stuck in bed all day thinking about her depression. One of the reasons why this cure can be so dangerous. Lying in bed all day every day is the reason she actually The reason behind this was because her husband did not want to have to deal with it so he isolated her. Being in isolation for a long enough time can make a person go insane. Especially if the one who is resting cannot do anything for an extended period of time. is insane rather than her depression. This rest cure almost ruined Gilman’s whole life. Plus, not doing anything for a while can make one very lazy, which makes the depression worse. Overall the rest cure was a selfish diagnosis because the doctors got lazy.

In the second article, The Rest Cure Revisited, by Diana Martin on mainly focuses how The rest cure was not just used to kill all of the creativity that women have, but also to make the man feel more like a father. (Martin). While The rest cure was prescribed to treat hysteria, many husbands would tell their wives to go rest because it made them feel like they had more power. When doctors used the rest cure, they make sure to pay “attention to every detail of the patient’s comfort,” (Martin) Just like a father checking on his wife or kids when they are sick. The rest cure was described in this article as a paternalistic style of 19th century medicine. By using this method, the women often had to go through hours of psychological manipulation in order for the rest cure to “work”. This was the main way that the rest cure would suppress the minds of women back. The creator of the rest cure often showed women how much he did not actually care about them getting better. He would say very unprofessional and inappropriate things to them during check-ups. Another reason Gillman went crazy was because she was not a loud to work and she made it very clear that that was one of the main reasons for her going mad. The rest cure is just another way for men to feel more in control as well as just prescribing something for an incurable disease. 

The second article relates to “The Yellow Wallpaper” because of how the rest cure puts women down and makes it so they cannot make their own decisions. Many times in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator’s mind is suppressed by John. Gilman The narrator talks a lot John, who is the physician and her husband who prescribed her with the rest cure. She spends a lot of time praising him. For example, She said, “It is so hard to talk to John about my case, because he is so wise,” (Gilman 305). The narrator’s high esteem for her husband suggests her dependence on him and her loss of ability to decide for herself. She praises him because he makes her feel like he has more power than her even though he doesn’t at all. Another common occurrence in this book is Gilman the narrator just listening to John just because he is the man and he tells her to do it. An example of this would be when she says, “But John says if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self-control,” (Gilman 300). Because the narrator follows her husband’s prescriptions, it parallels to the idea that women are and should be submissive to men. It also suggests that women should not be allowed to think for themselves.  John would say this because Gilman would get mad because she does not like being controlled like this. But since John “knows what is best” so she will listen to him because he is a man. The narrator only listens to John because he is a man and is in authority. One can associate that her submission to John is another one of  the reasons she goes insane.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is filled with evidence proving that the rest cure is not good for someone’s mental and physical wellbeing. It also supports the idea that women should listen to anything a man says even though it may not be true. This story took place during a time when women didn’t have many rights, but one can tell that this drives the narrator into literal and Gilman into partial to insanity. Many husbands prescribed wives the rest cure even if they were not sick. Because of the rest cure’s extreme effects on its patients, one can see Gilman’s purpose for writing the story as a vehicle for ridicule. 
