Rest Cure In The Yellow Wallpaper

The rest cure is the treatment of disease by rest and isolation in a good hygienic environment. During the early nineteenth century, women were thought, by many men, to only be able to clean the house, take care of the kids, and have babies. When a woman became depressed, she was thought to need the rest cure and after she would be better, but as we see in “

A Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman this is not necessarily true. Depression treated by isolation can further deteriorate the mind causing the lost of mental faculties.

The effects of isolation on both the narrator and the author both shows how the rest cure inadequately treats patients with postpartum depression (PPD). The effects of the rest treatment pushes women to borderline

If the brain does not have anything to occupy itself then a man or woman will go into a state of depression. Being isolated from the outside world for so long caused her brain to start hallucinating. Also, the author of the book “The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte Perkins Gilman stated “ I wrote the yellow wallpaper with its embellishments and additions to carry out the ideal…and sent a copy to the physician who so nearly drove me mad...it has to my knowledge saved one woman from a similar fate-so terrifying her family that they let her out into normal activity and she recovered.” A woman who had had the rest cure along with the narrator and the author has either driven them insane or to the borderline of insanity. The effects of the rest cure on many women were devastating to their health and is a unreliable treatment to treating postpartum depression.

Jane’s efforts to avoid others from looking at the hideous painting, shows how that

A loss of sleep will also affects one 's ability of their brain to function successfully. If you do not sleep and you look at the same thing all day for 3 months the chances for you having a stable mind are slim to none. John also goes on to say that people can

ot visit her. If she cannot see the people that she loves, then her being depressed will be more likely. The narrator goes on to say “ I wish john would take me away from here… it is so hard talking with john about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so.” Women were not known to have have a voice in the 1800’s they had to do what the men said most of the time. She really has been trying to get away for her mental health, but John never lets her leave in fear that she was not well yet. John pitied his wife and whenever she told him something he would try to convince her that his way was right cause he is the doctor. John says “ why darling… our lease is up in three weeks, and I can’t see how to leave before.” When she tells

John how she feels, he basically goes around the question since “ John knows best.” John has most definitely depressed her even more then she was at the