Traditions have always played a significant role in how people live, how they interact with others, and how they manage their responsibilities. Having precedents to follow in various situations can be seen as useful but they also tend to create restrictions that are uncomfortable to deviate from after being accepted time and time again. Women often find themselves at the mercy of tradition, particularly regarding societal roles that inhibit them from pursuing ways of life that depart from what precedent has deemed acceptable. The relationship between the roles of a housewife and their susceptibility to depression provides a cultural understanding of the Rest Cure and its widespread use as described in “The Yellow Wallpaper”.

When Dr. Silas Mitchell developed the infamous Rest Cure, it was solely implemented for distraught soldiers who had been fighting in the Civil War. For these men, the cure took the form of a strict feeding regimen and rest schedule. The treatment relied on the basis that the absence of pattern in the men’s lives was the root of their nervousness, restlessness, and depression. After the relative success of his experimental treatment in soldiers, Mitchell adjusted his focus to the numerous complaints of his female patients experiencing similar symptoms of depression. He began to treat these women using a regimen that is more accurately represented by the label “rest cure” than what his male patients had undergone. The cure consisted of six to eight weeks of complete rest and isolation from friends and family along with a strict diet consisting mainly of milk to increase body weight, as well as massage and electrotherapeutics delivered by a nurse to stimulate the muscles and keep the skin flushed with blood. Mitchell chose to focus on treating the visible signs of nervousness his patients exhibited, such as frailty, loss of color, and depleted stamina. By viewing surface deficiencies as symptomatic of nervous system deficiencies, he believed that by regaining a fattened exterior with sufficient blood circulation it would signify the healing of depleted nerves. 

The treatment the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” received appears to be historically and medically accurate since it coincides with the description of the rest cure given in the previous paragraph. In the story, the narrator is not allowed to see her child or interact with anyone but her doctor and nurses. She is also prohibited from reading or writing during the weeks she has to remain in isolation. The narrator expresses personal opinions of the treatment not really working while her doctor refuses to take her complaints and concerns seriously.