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, we can see that the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffered from the illness known at the time as neurasthenia, although after being treated her illness worsened.  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.

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 essay provides multiple different points and areas of insight into the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  It is explained in the article that hysteria is a very common disease of a woman's madness (Ussher 63) . The disorder neurasthenia is also mentioned and is explained as a common nervous disorder. 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. . .” (64). By understanding what this disease encompassed the assumption can be made that the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” suffered from a disease similar to neurasthenia. This is clear because at the beginning of the essay her symptoms do not seem all that bad and she writes “I’m sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think it is due to this nervous condition.”(Gilman 300). As the story progresses further she mentioned how she cries at everything and cries most of the time now (Gilman 304). This is showing how her illness could be getting worse as she is getting more sensitive. 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 (Ussher 64). 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. 

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.” (63 ). 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” (63). This is just the first look into how men view this disorder and why this is an issue. 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.” (301). This relates to the idea that 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 as well. 

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 65). 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.” She mentioned in the story that she did not feel much of a desire to write prior to going to the house but as soon as she got there she gained that desire but had to hide it from John (Gilman 301). This is an example of her desire for independence as well as privacy by writing what is going on in her life but not allowing her husband too see. By knowing that this habit started only as soon as she got to this house also suggests that being there gives her this desire, causing her to feel more symptoms of hysteria.  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.” (64). By connecting the article and the book, the viewer may draw the conclusion how a woman's mental disorders and treatments have evolved over history and the challenges they have had to face with 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. By looking into this article 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.”(700). 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”. 

The women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is constantly being given directions by her husband and can be seen as being mostly under his control. This is evident when she says, “It is hard to talk with John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so.” (Gilman 305). This shows that she has feelings that she would like to express to her husband about her illness although since he is a man as well as the caretaker her information will not be taken into account. We see a similar theme in Shuster’s article. We learn through Mitchell’s treatment that he believes women should not hold professional jobs or go to college because this may exhaust them (708). 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 when they are better and do not agree with Mitchell’s beliefs although they do follow his instructions of taking rest off from vigorous work. If the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” could have been cured and looked back on her experience with her treatment she may have been able to express a similar opinion as these two women. Many times throughout the story we see her expressing opinions of her own and then later expressing that what her husband is saying is correct and believing him although that is truly not what she thinks. For example, she expresses how she does not like her bedroom and wishes she could have stayed in the one downstairs but then later says, “It is an airy room and comfortable room as any one need wish..”(Gilman 302).

 According to Schuster, “Although Mason was an active, confident, and ambitious woman, neurasthenia sporadically left her lethargic, insecure, and depressed.”(705).  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 309). In Shuster’s article, Mason says, “A woman confides to a trusted physician what she could say to no other friend.” (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. 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.”and then says “There's something strange about the house- I can feel it.” (Gilman 300). You are given many pieces of insight throughout the story that suggests this house may be an old 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 302) This simply shows parts of the bedroom she was living in that could relate to a mental institution. 

This article described a large institution for nervous sufferers in the Netherlands called Rhijngeest. 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” (83). 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.”(Gilman 301) This shows that both of these estates are similar and used for the same purpose. We also see throughout the essay how the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper”’s illness worsened. As the husband does not send her to a real sanatorium for treatment and instead takes her to an old estate similar to one and provides her with treatment there her body does not progress for the better. As she begins writing in her journal as soon as she arrives she does not complain about it causing her exhaustion. As the story progresses she says, “But the effort is getting to be greater than the relief.” (Gilman 305). She fantasizes throughout the essay about the wallpaper in her bedroom that she is constantly trapped in. As she describes the wallpaper by having new shoots of fungus on it, new shades of yellow and complaining about the smell the conclusion can be drawn that being in this bedroom so much is causing her to become more ill (Gilman 308.)

 According to Slijkhuis essay, “From 1908, when the diagnosis ‘psychasthenia’ grew common, the number of neurasthenia patients dropped considerably” (84). From this information the claim can be made that the girl in “The Yellow Wallpaper” may have had a different disorder than 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. 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 the article, “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.”(17). This is suggesting that anorexia was not the main 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.” (Gilman 306). 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 (Gilman 306). 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 this disorder, known as neurasthenia at the time, many conclusions about Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be drawn. We see a prominent gender bias within nervous disorders in history as males are primarily the caretakers while women are the ones undergoing the treatment. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the woman's husband provides her with a treatment similar to the rest cure by taking her to a house which may have been an old sanatorium. We can see throughout the story that her husband controls her every day schedule and does not listen to her which gives her no control in her life. As she is stuck in a bedroom with fungus infested wallpaper she is eventually driven insane. We can see through the information from these four scholarly sources that the treatment given to the women in “The Yellow Wallpaper” does not help her due to many implications during this time period.
