Neurasthenia was a commonly diagnosed disease throughout the 19th century. This disease encompassed a variety of problems which many people sought to have. In the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a women is diagnosed by her husband as having “a simple nervous disorder” and is treated with rest, fresh air, prescriptions, and exercise. By analyzing four articles with the focus on nervous disorders, such as neurasthenia and hysteria, I have concluded that the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffered from the disorder known as neurasthenia, but as she was sent to a house, similar to a sanatorium, her illness worsened although her caretakers could not see it due to multiple implications in that time period. Each article holds different factual information and ideas that allowed me to comprehend the viewpoint of individuals in the 19th century on the nervous disorders and their treatment as well as how these issues are still seen in today’s society.

The article,  “Diagnosing difficult women and pathologising femininity: Gender bias in psychiatric nosology” written by Jane M Ussher, a feminism and psychology specialist, discusses how women are often outspoken and viewed in a different way than males when it comes to mental illnesses. This scholarly article is broken up into three sections. The first section focuses on the first look into inequality with gender illnesses which encompass’s the illness known as hysteria. It is also explained to us through this portion of the article that hysteria is a very common disease of a woman's madness. There comes a time eventually in history where males are accepted of being diagnosed with hysteria but it will never stop holding the stereotype of a woman's disorder. According to Ussher, “Laycock (1840), described hysteria as a woman’s ‘natural state’, whereas it was deemed a ‘morbid state’ in a man”(Ussher). This is just the first look into how men view this disorder and why this is an issue. Another disorder mentioned in this part of Ussher’s essay is the “nervous disorder” known as neurasthenia. This disorder in the 18th century was known to be a more friendly or likeable women’s illness as Ussher says, “Neurasthenic women were ‘sensible, not over sensitive or emotional, exhibiting a proper amount of illness. . .” (Ussher). Although, later in the 19th century these two disease’s came together under the category of hysteria. At this point in history women with symptoms such as depression, rage, nervousness, eating disorders and more, would all fall under the disorder of hysteria causing it to be a very common illness. Both of these diseases are still stereotyped for women as their emotions can be signs for “madness” while men's emotions are seen as a more “natural” part of their life. 

The essay “Diagnosing difficult women and pathologizing femininity: Gender bias in psychiatric nosology” provides multiple different points and areas of insight into the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a story about a woman who is told she has a simple nervous disorder and is treated by her husband by prescriptions, air, rest, and exercise. One argument that can be drawn from “The Yellow Wallpaper” from the help of Ussher’s essay is that women with mental illnesses are treated differently during this time period. Ussher informs us on this issue when he says, “It was always considered to be ‘woman’s disease’, a disorder linked to the essence of femininity itself.” (Ussher ). We also see this theme in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story when she writes, “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows their is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” (Gilman). This relates to the way males do not feel that women are actually suffering from a real disorder and it is just in their minds. It is shown throughout the story that it is women who are commonly sick and men who are the caretakers which is a main point in the article. The argument may also be drawn that this women may have had a deeper mental illness but considering the time period most everything was just declared hysteria or neurasthenia. With the correct medical analysis she may have been able to get the help she needed specific to her disorder and not just the most common one. By reading the article you learn a lot about hysteria and the way women who have it feel. For example, the article says “these women exhibited symptoms of depression, rave, and the tendency to tears” (Ussher). By learning about the emotions of women suffering through these sort of disorders and how they were handled during this time period allows us to be placed into the perspective of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The article states that women with hysteria feel a desire for “independence” and “privacy” which is helpful to know as they are reading the feelings and actions of the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” There are many points in the article that state how men feel towards women who suffer from this disorder which allows the viewer to easily see the gender bias. According to Ussher, “Some went as far as to describe such women as ‘evil’, with the physician Silas Weir Mitchell, declaring that ‘a hysterical girl is a vampire who sucks the blood of the healthy people around her.” By connecting the article and the book, the viewer may draw the conclusion how a woman's mental disorders have evolved over history and therefore allow women to be stronger people as they have been facing the challenges of gender bia’s through mental disorders for all these years. 

In the article, “Personalizing Illness And Modernity: S. Weir Mitchell, Literary Women, And Neurasthenia, 1870-1914.”, David Schuster examines neurologist S. Weir Mitchell and two of his patients who suffered from neurasthenia. In this article we learned how Mitchell assessed the rapid modernization of America through the spread of neurasthenia. Two sections in the article focus on Mitchell’s two patients, Amelia Mason and Sarah Wister. These two women share their thought process and experiences throughout treatment in these sections. The final section of this article holds Schuster’s strongest findings. We learn through Mitchell’s treatment that he believes women should not hold professional jobs or go to college because this may exhaust them. All together he believes that the fast pace modernization of America is what is causing this widespread illness and women should not try and compete with males because it will only harm them. Mason and Wister describe their thoughts after their treatment and do not agree with Mitchell’s beliefs although they do follow his instructions of taking rest off from vigorous work. 

By looking into the article, “Personalizing Illness And Modernity: S. Weir Mitchell, Literary Women, And Neurasthenia, 1870-1914.” one may be able to gain a deeper knowledge into the life and feelings of women with neurasthenia. This then allows you to gain greater knowledge and draw conclusions on the girl in “The Yellow Wallpaper”. According to Schuster, “The trusting relationships that emerge between the women and Mitchell help to put into perspective Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s notorious encounter with Mitchell and allow for a more nuanced understanding of the doctor’s treatment of his female patients.”( Schuster).  Weir Mitchell had a different relationship with his two patients, unlike most usual doctor-patient relationships. This relates to the relationship of the women and her husband in “The Yellow Wallpaper” as he was her husband as well as her “caretaker”. According to Schuster, “Although Mason was an active, confident, and ambitious woman, neurasthenia sporadically left her lethargic, insecure, and depressed.”(Schuster).  After she could not live her life normally and happily she traveled to Philadelphia where she first sought treatment from Weir Mitchell. In one of the letters recording Mitchell and Masons meetings she says, “Intellectual enthusiasms are wearing,” and  “thinking too severely exhausts me.” (Schuster 40). This relates to the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” as she is obsessed with the thought of the wallpaper in her bedroom and allows it to take over her thoughts until it exhausts her to the point where she is literally driven insane. For example she writes about the paper towards the end of the story saying, “The front pattern does move-and no wonder! The woman behind shakes it!” (Gilman).  In Shuster’s article, Mason says, “A woman confides to a trusted physician what she could say to no other friend.” (Schuster 48). This helps convey my argument that the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” gradually began to suffer from a deeper illness that her caretakers were not able to see. If her husband would have taken her to get professional help from a physician she may have been able to discuss her emotions with him which could have led to a better treatment as she was not able to discuss most of her real feelings with her husband because he would not listen. 

The article, “Paralysed With Fears And Worries’: Neurasthenia As A Gender-Specific Disease Of Civilization.” written by Jessica Slijkhuis discusses the history of the nervous disorder, neurasthenia and how it was treated in the 1900’s. Neurasthenia was known to be a less serious and harmful disorder therefore the patients did not belong in asylums but rather in a medical sanatorium, rest home, or health resort. This article described a large institution for nervous sufferers in the Netherlands called Rhijngeest. This sanatorium was open mainly to individuals in first and second class with a few state beds for individuals who could not afford treatment. The final section of this article specified to the patients records who got treated at Rhijngeest. The records of each patient allowed researchers to get insight on each patient and draw conclusions about the disorder of Neurasthenia.  

The article, “Paralysed With Fears and Worries” relates to “The Yellow Wallpaper” in multiple ways. From reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” you can draw the conclusion that the husband took the women to an old sanatorium and gives her appropriate treatment as she would in a sanatorium although she does not understand that is what she is actually living in. She says, “There was some legal trouble…anyhow, the place has been empty for years.” (Gilman) and then says “There's something strange about the house- I can feel it.” (Gilman). You are given many pieces of insight throughout the story that suggests this house may be a sanatorium. Another example might be when she says, “He said that after the wallpaper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on.” (Gilman) This simply shows parts of the bedroom she was living in that could relate to a mental institution. In Slijkhuis’s essay he explains the sanatorium in Rhijngeest by saying , “Further, it was indicated that the sanatorium, situated on a ‘beautiful estate’, was equipped with all the modern amenities such as electricity and central heating and that patients could find rest and relaxation” (Slijkhuis). This relates to “The Yellow Wallpaper” as she explains the house as being “a colonial mansion, a hereditary estate,” and says “He said we came here solely on my account, that I was to have perfect rest and all the air I could get.” This shows that both of these estates are similar and used for the same purpose. According to Slijkhuis essay, “From 1908, when the diagnosis ‘psychasthenia’ grew common, the number of neurasthenia patients dropped considerably” (Slijkhuis).  This provides proof to my claim that the girl in “The Yellow Wallpaper” may have a different or worse disorder then the common neurasthenia that was diagnosed to many ailments during that time period. As soon as another diagnosis came out the number of neurasthenia patients dropped because they had previously fallen under the diagnosis of neurasthenia. The women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” may have had a different illness which was categorized as neurasthenia at the time and may have been helpful to get a different treatment specified for her ailments. 

The article, “Selecting A Somatic Type: The Role Of Anorexia In The Rest Cure.” written by Lori Duin Kelly discusses how Weir Mitchell’s Rest Cure treatment affected patients with anorexia. This article discusses how William Playfair, a professor of obstetrics, was the first to use photography to record observations for clinical research. These photographs allowed viewers to see the weight gain in patients from before to after the Rest Cure treatment. Researcher’s, Playfair and Myrtle came to the conclusion that the disorder anorexia nervosa was caused by nervous exhaustion. As a treatment for this disease Playfair recommended the Rest Cure. Within the Rest Cure these patients would be put into an isolated area where they would be given an excessive amount of food and heavy diets, massage sessions, and consigned to their beds, not being allowed to move about freely. In conclusion to the Rest Cure treatment to anorexia nervosa patients, there was a dramatic change in physical appearance as well as psychological benefits, women particularly, also benefited from regaining their menstruation.  

By understanding what the rest cure did for the anorexic body the reader can be informed on one of the very influential promotions of this specific treatment. The way the rest cure treatment affected a woman's body is evident as you read “The Yellow Wallpaper”.  Kelly says in, “Selecting A Somatic Type: The Role of Anorexia In The Rest Cure.” , “However, although the Rest Cure undeniably alleviated some physical symptoms, it did not address underlying issues of what had caused so many of these patients to take to their beds in the first place, often for years at a time.” This is suggesting that anorexia was not the reason that these women underwent the rest cure although it was one of many of the issues in these women's lives. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the husband says, “but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you.” Because the patients being treated with rest cure as well as the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” may gain a healthier appearance after a while of being treated, their caretakers may believe that they are also healthier mentally. Although this may not actually be the case. The husband again says, “Really dear you are better!” and the women begins to say “Better in body perhaps-” and then stopped herself as he gave her a stern look. This again reinforces the idea that the man physicians believe their treatment has to be working if they are physically looking better and believe the disorder of neurasthenia may not actually be as bad as women make it out to be. 

By analyzing these four scholarly articles many points of information on the treatment and disorder of neurasthenia have been gained. By understanding the disorder back in history known as neurasthenia many conclusions about Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be drawn. By reading “Diagnosing difficult women and pathologizing femininity: Gender bias in psychiatric nosology” the viewer will then understand the gender bias in neurasthenia and how males are prominently the caretakers and women are most often the patients with this disease.  In the article, “Personalizing Illness And Modernity: S. Weir Mitchell, Literary Women, And Neurasthenia, 1870-1914.” the argument can be conveyed that the illness of women at the time may have been something deeper than “a simple nervous disorder” and men were not able to see this. In the article, “Paralysed With Fears And Worries’: Neurasthenia As A Gender-Specific Disease Of Civilization.” the viewer may draw the conclusion that the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” was actually living in an old sanatorium and receiving treatment as someone would in a sanatorium. Finally, in the article, “Selecting A Somatic Type: The Role Of Anorexia In The Rest Cure.” the viewer may learn how the cure of anorexia in neurasthenia patients is one of the ways that the Rest Cure treatment was promoted. 

A Gender-Specific Disease Of Civilization." History Of Psychiatry 24.1 (2013): 79-93. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.