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Conclusion of post partum depression
Conclusion of post partum depression
Conclusion of post partum depression
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In the 19th century, medical innovations were not, but it wasn’t until the 1850s that medical professionals acknowledge Post-partum depression for what it is today. Before that women were often misdiagnosed with “hysteria” and subject to different treatments. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman Perkins the protagonist is the victim of a medical misdiagnosis that Post-partum depression is the feeling of emptiness felt after having a baby. It is an umbrella term that encompasses five related Post-partum disorders that follow child birth. “Baby Blues”, Post-partum panic disorder, Post-partum Obsessive compulsive disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Post-Partum Psychosis. [ explain all 5 related disorders] The “Baby blues” is the most common out of all the disorders. Its symptoms include feeling emotional and irrational, depressed or anxious. Usually these symptoms go away within a few days of giving birth. Post-partum panic disorder is when the mother experiences panic attacks for the first time in her life. …show more content…
Women who suffer from post-partum depression often experience overwhelming fatigue or loss of energy, and diminished ability to think clearly, concentrate or make decisions (Drugs 1). The narrator found herself tired when trying to find a creative outlet to her situation. “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me. But I find I get pretty tired when I try” (Gilman 5). She finds that she has difficulty expressing herself because she is often plagued with fatigue. Her emotional side effects were caused by her having a high level of placental corticotropin-releasing hormone
disorder by taking her away for the summer and placing her in an old house
Roca, Catherine. "Depression During and After Pregnancy." April 2005. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Online. http://www.4woman.gov/faq/postpartum.htm. (17 Nov. 2005)
Throughout the late 1800s Americans were workaholics, constantly working in order to make a living for their families at home. Women stayed home and took care of the house as well as the children. The short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” takes place in the late 1800s.The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman is no stranger to the hysteria that took over women in the 19th century. According to Mary Ellen Snodgrass, after her own postpartum emotional collapse and treatment in 1887, Gilman knew about the situation women were experiencing (“Gilman”). All the pressure of working and raising children affected all Americans, but society blamed the nervous depression mainly on women because they were women. Charlotte Perkins Gilman conveys her own life experience and illness that she went through and how women were treated during the 1800’s.
In the "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes her postpartum depression through the character of Jane. Jane was locked up for bed rest and was not able to go outside to help alleviate her nervous condition. Jane develops an attachment to the wallpaper and discovers a woman in the wallpaper. This shows that her physical treatment is only leading her to madness. The background of postpartum depression can be summarized by the symptoms of postpartum depression, the current treatment, and its prevention. Many people ask themselves what happens if postpartum depression gets really bad or what increases their chances. Jane's treatment can show what can happen if it is not treated correctly. If Jane would have had different treatment, then she would not have gone insane.
After reading Charlotte Perkins Gillman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" I have come to think that the narrator does not suffer from hysteria. I have reached this idea from comparing the research I have done on hysteria to her symptoms in the story. In this paper I will discuss why I feel the narrator does not suffer from hysteria but may be suffering from postpartum depression.
The first story I’ll be discussing is “The Yellow Wallpaper”. The main character in the story is the narrator. She is not given a name to call her by but it is suggested that her name is Jane by many readers of the story. She just had a child and is going through a medically referable situation called postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a hindering medical condition that send new mothers into depressive states which affect their ability to care for themselves and for a baby. During the late 1800s, when this story was written, postpartum depression was referred to as “temporary nervous depression” and had isolating treatments such as the one being administered to the narrator by her husband, t...
Pregnancies are often correlated with the assumption that it will bring happiness to the household and ignite feelings of love between the couple. What remains invisible is how the new responsibilities of caring and communicating with the baby affects the mother; and thus, many women experience a temporary clinical depression after giving birth which is called postpartum depression (commonly known as postnatal depression) (Aktaş & Terzioğlu, 2013).
Postpartum psychosis has a wide range of symptoms, all of which the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” exhibits. The disorder, which sets on up to several weeks after giving birth, “is characterized by symptoms of extreme agitation, confusion, exhilaration, and an inability to sleep or eat. It may be hard to maintain a coherent conversation with a woman who has postpartum psychosis. She may also experience delusions, hallucinations, and altered and impaired concept of reality, rapid mood swings, insomnia, and abnormal
Postpartum depression is indeed a major psychological disorder that can affect the relationship between mother and baby. At this time, the cause of postpartum depression is unidentified, although several factors experienced during pregnancy can contribute to this disorder. Fluctuating hormone levels have been traditionally blamed for the onset of postpartum depression. Jennifer Marie Camp (2013), a registered nurse with a personal history of postpartum depression, states in the Intentional Journal of Childbirth Education that “current research demonstrates that PPD may be a compilation of numerous stressors encountered by the family, including biochemical, genetic, psychosocial factors and everyday life stress” (Camp, 2013, p. 1). A previous history of depression, depression during pregnancy, financial difficulties, a dif...
"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 1). Many women in the 1800's and 1900's faced hardship when it came to standing up for themselves to their fathers, brothers and then husbands. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator of the story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", is married to a physician, who rented a colonial house for the summer to nurse her back to health after her husband thinks she has neurasthenia, but actually suffers from postpartum depression. He suggested the 'rest cure'. She should not be doing any sort of mental or major physical activity, her only job was to relax and not worry about anything. Charlotte was a writer and missed writing. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is significant to literature in the sense that, the author addresses the issues of the rest cure that Dr. S. Weir Mitchell prescribed for his patients, especially to women with neurasthenia, is ineffective and leads to severe depression. This paper includes the life of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in relation to women rights and her contribution to literature as one of her best short story writings.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper," is the disheartening tale of a woman suffering from postpartum depression. Set during the late 1890s, the story shows the mental and emotional results of the typical "rest cure" prescribed during that era and the narrator’s reaction to this course of treatment. It would appear that Gilman was writing about her own anguish as she herself underwent such a treatment with Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell in 1887, just two years after the birth of her daughter Katherine. The rest cure that the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" describes is very close to what Gilman herself experienced; therefore, the story can be read as reflecting the feelings of women like herself who suffered through such treatments. Because of her experience with the rest cure, it can even be said that Gilman based the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" loosely on herself. But I believe that expressing her negative feelings about the popular rest cure is only half of the message that Gilman wanted to send. Within the subtext of this story lies the theme of oppression: the oppression of the rights of women especially inside of marriage. Gilman was using the woman/women behind the wallpaper to express her personal views on this issue.
The Yellow Wallpaper was written in 1892, when post-partum depression and other mental illness weren’t seen by doctors as a disease. This caused most physicians to prescribe a specific treatment for post-partum depression that didn’t help. The Rest Cure was prescribed mostly to women and after being on the treatment patients began to
Gilman tries to show that according to her husband, the narrator continually brings her great depression upon herself. The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman also attempts to show that the lack of social exposure, physical repression, and ugly wallpaper cause the treatment to be extremely ineffective and detrimental. The disorder which is being treated is actually strengthened to the point of a serious mental illness. Similarly in today’s society, medical and psychological advice may have the same effect. Medical technology and practice have progressed considerably since the time of the “Yellow Wallpaper.” This is not to say that today’s physicians are infallible. Perhaps some of today’s treatments are the “Yellow Wallpaper” of the future .
“The Yellow Wallpaper” is the story of a woman descending into psychosis in a creepy tale which depicts the harm of an old therapy called “rest cure.” This therapy was used to treat women who had “slight hysterical tendencies” and depression, and basically it consisted of the inhibition of the mental processes. The label “slight hysterical tendency” indicates that it is not seen as a very important issue, and it is taken rather lightly. It is also ironic because her illness is obviously not “slight” by any means, especially towards the end when the images painted of her are reminiscent of a psychotic, maniacal person, while she aggressively tears off wallpaper and confuses the real world with her alternative world she has fabricated that includes a woman trapped in the wallpaper. The narrator of this story grows obsessed with the wallpaper in her room because her husband minimizes her exposure to the outside world and maximizes her rest. Academic essayists such as Susan M. Gilbert, Susan Gubar, and Elaine Showalter have a feminist reading of the story, however, this is not the most important reading. The author experienced the turmoil of the rest cure personally, which means that the story is most likely a comment on the great mistreatment of depression, hysteria and mental disorders in general. Despite the claims of Gilbert, Gubar, and Showalter that “The Yellow Wallpaper” is solely feminist propaganda, their analysis is often unnecessarily deep and their claims are often unwarranted, resulting in an inaccurate description of a story that is most importantly about the general mistreatment of psychosis and the descent into insanity regardless of gender.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s tantalizing short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” tells the horrifying tale of a nineteenth century woman whose husband condemns her to a rest cure, a popular approach during the era to treat post-partum depression. Although John, the unnamed narrator’s husband, does not truly believe his wife is ill, he ultimately condemns her to mental insanity through his treatment. The story somewhat resembles Gilman’s shocking personal biography, namely the rest cure she underwent under the watchful eye of Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell in 1887, two years after the birth of her daughter, Katherine. Superficially, the rest cure the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" endures loosely replicates Gilman’s personal anguish as she underwent such a treatment. More complexly, however, the story both accentuates and indirectly criticizes the oppression women faced in both marriage and motherhood.