Brandon Schmidt
gth775g
The Baby-Blues Believer
The baby-blues and postpartum depression are forms of depression that affects women
after childbirth. The baby-blues occurs in seventy five to eighty percent women after delivery
but only about ten percent of women have the more severe of the two prognoses, postpartum
depression (www.mayoclinic.com). In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Gilman, the
narrator suffers from neurasthenia. Postpartum depression was not yet classified or thought to be
a severe mental condition at the beginning of the 19th century. Gilman, who suffered from
postpartum depression but over came it, wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” to show the
consequences of what happens to women suffering from neurasthenia if they followed the
prescriptions given to them by the medical field during the 19th century. She also later went on
to write other articles like “Why I wrote ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’?” to state that she was not
trying to frighten people but show them the consequences of this mental illness if ignored or
given the “rest cure” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper). “The Yellow Wallpaper” is about a
woman who suffered from neurasthenia, was prescribed the “rest cure” (Gilman, The Yellow
Wallpaper) and ultimately lost her sanity, or her inability to tell the difference between reality
and fantasy, as a consequence of the medical field’s inability to effectively provide proper
diagnose, treatment, and a support network or group needed to overcome this mental disease.
This is relevant to modern times because the issue of whether women truly do suffer from
postpartum depression and the treatment thereof is still under debate and society needs to be
informed of the consequences of ignoring this mental illness.
The narrator is evaluated by “a physician of high standing” (Gilman, The Yellow
Wallpaper) who believes her condition is nothing more than a “temporary nervous depression”
or “a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper). Furthermore, he did not
Brandon Schmidt
gth775g
consider it as a mental disease that could lead to further problems or complications if left
unchecked. The reality of the situation is that postpartum depression, if not diagnosed early, can
lead to severe depression and actions like the murder of oneself or others. In the short story, the
narrator was diagnosed with neurasthenia and her husband and brother, both doctors, agreed with
the doctor’s treatment and she was forced to deal with her own mental illness within the
constrains of the “rest cure” prescription. Although the medical field was not able to effectively
diagnose the postpartum depression because of the lack of medical advances and technology, the
diagnosis for neurasthenia was primarily formed by doctors, males, trying to figure out what was
wrong with their patients, females, without the patient’s input. This was one of the biggest flaws
in the medical system during the 19th century as related to women’s health issues and why the
narrator was wrongly diagnosed.
The treatment that was given to women with neurasthenia at the time was the “rest cure”
(Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper). This treatment declared that the women are “absolutely
forbidden to ‘work’” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper) and if they did, their spouse, family, and
doctors looked down on it. The narrator is only allowed to only care for herself and even that is
up for debate because her husband has the servants, his sister or himself wait on her. She is
unable to do anything but lounge around and occasionally write or have intellectual
conversations with others. It is this treatment that ends up pushing the narrator to the edge of her
sanity and over it because she loses her sense of importance in her home and society.
Additionally, the medical field did not know what medication or psychoactive treatments mental
diseases needed. They were unaware of the chemical imbalances in the brain and the problems
and actions that they can cause a person to do. The hormonal imbalances after childbirth that
result in the lack of serotonin, the source of depression, can cause drastic mood swings along
Brandon Schmidt
gth775g
with severe complications in the processing of thoughts. According to the Mayo Clinic,
postpartum depression is treated with anti-depressants that alter brain chemistry “by increasing
the availability of the neurotransmitter serotonin in [the] brain” (www.mayoclinic.com) to stop
the severe mood swings and then psychotherapy is given to deal with the mental issues.
In the story, the narrator does not have a support group, which in modern times is one of
the most important things needed to overcome depression. A patient’s likelihood of becoming
cured of a mental disease is significantly less if they do not have a proper support network or
group in place. The narrator’s lack of a support group or network is obvious from the beginning
of the story. “If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and
relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a
slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper) She is unable
to confide in her own family and friends and is left to overcome the problem by herself.
Moreover, she is continually told that nothing is wrong with her. This causes even more mental
strain to be put on her because she is does not have the mental capability to deal with her own
depression and her husband’s suppression. She is unable to perform the basic human need to
communicate and confide in others and loses the will to hold back her insanity.
Even in today’s society, some males, like Tom Cruise, believe that only vitamins can be
used to counter the hormonal affects of postpartum depression and that those using
antidepressants are drug abusers. This way of thinking seems similar to that of the “physician of
high standing” (Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper), that women do not actual suffer from
postpartum depression, the lack of serotonin, but just an imbalance of the hormonal system. The
hormonal system is most certainly involved but the imbalance caused by the lack of serotonin in
the brain is the root issue. This causes the symptoms of depression (mood swings, irregular
Brandon Schmidt
gth775g
actions, impatience) and in the extreme cases cannot be fixed only through vitamins and exercise
but requires the proper diagnoses, treatment, and support groups needed to help patients get
better. In Brooke Shields well-worded reply, she states,
I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from
postpartum depression. To suggest that I was wrong to take drugs to deal with my
depression, and that instead I should have taken vitamins and exercised shows an utter
lack of understanding about postpartum depression and childbirth in general. If any good
can come of Mr. Cruise's ridiculous rant, let's hope that it gives much-needed attention to
a serious disease.
Brandon Schmidt
gth775g
Work Cited
www.mayoclinic.com. 2006. Postpartum-depression. 7 Oct. 2005
<http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/postpartum-depression/DS00546/DSECTION=1-8>
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. Boston, MA: Small & Maynard, 1899
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper”?. The Forerunner, Oct. 1913
http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/id/2442373