Essay on Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" was published in 1899. The story was based on Gilman's own personal experience with misdiagnosis and mistreatment by the medical community. Written at a time when women were frequently diagnosed with depression, many underwent a "rest cure." Just as with the woman in the story, Gilman's "illness" only worsened with continued treatment. Although there are significant social and cultural differences between the American society of today and that of the late 19^th century, the underlying social conflict addressed in the story is still in existence. That being said, it is important to address specific storyline elements and associated problems in "The Yellow Wallpaper" before offering my solution.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a story about a woman who has been diagnosed by her husband as having a "temporary nervous depression" (Gilman, 589). Her husband John rents a house for the Summer, believing that the change in environment will secure her recovery. Yet he persists in treating her illness with isolation-- socially, intellectually and physically. She is not permitted to write or venture outside the house and has very limited social contact. John believes that too much "stimulation" will only worsen her condition. However, his treatment quickly turns sour: detached from everything she holds dear, she finds herself spending the majority of her time in the upstairs bedroom where she becomes obsessed with her surrounding environment-- most specifically, the wallpaper. She writes about it frequently, describing it with terms such as "repellent, almost revolting" and "horrid" and giving painfully detailed descriptions of its intricate patterns (Gilman, 591, 593). Realizing that she is slowly losing her mind, she makes a plea to her husband to release her from treatment. In the end she loses her sanity: she convinces herself that she has become the woman "trapped" inside the wallpaper.

Her downfall was painfully sad yet perfectly preventable. Why did the treatment fail? Besides clear communication barriers between the patient and her husband, there was a clear misunderstanding of her condition. As noted by the narrator herself, "John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him" (Gilman, 590). She voices her concerns repeatedly throughout the story, yet finds her requests fall on deaf ears. The situation is similar with today's patient-physician relationships, specifically in regards to depression. Physicians consistently fail to adequately meet the needs of their patients; just early this year a study was conducted revealing that up to 25% of patients diagnosed with depression are receiving inappropriate treatment. (Vedantam, 2007) But why? I believe this problem is partly due to both the misunderstanding of sadness prevalent in our society and the mechanized and apathetic labeling of natural human conditions that is performed throughout the medical community.

There is no one solution to this problem. But for a start, there should be a re-evaluation of the criteria used to diagnosis depression. Is the patient's response to certain stressful or traumatic events natural and foreseen? If so, perhaps that person should be receiving supportive therapy rather than drug treatments. If not, perhaps there is an underlying medical condition involved. According to Children and Adults Against Drugging America, there are numerous medical conditions that exhibit depression-like symptoms (par. 4). Regardless of the cause, each patient should diagnosed on a case-by-case basis, with narrower criteria and more helpful treatments. In addition to a re-evaluation of criteria, doctors should be trained to be less apathetic and more empathetic. When an individual comes to them seeking treatment, a doctor should do his best to treat them with sensitivity and care. By understanding that depression is a multifaceted and complex human response, they can more effectively assist the patient and society as a whole. Furthermore, they should avoid labeling when possible. It is at best unhelpful, and only serves to further isolate the patient from others. With these new measures in place there should be, at the very least, a reduction in inappropriate and unnecessary treatments.

Gilman authored "The Yellow Wallpaper" with very specific goals in mind: to challenge the medical community's current practices and to make her readers aware of the injustices that women of her time were forced to endure. Yet the problem is much more widespread today: both men and woman alike are being mistreated and unfairly labeled by the medical community. Depression is no longer viewed as a legitimate form of suffering; it is considered a disorder. What can be done? I have offered up my own recommendations: by requiring a re-evaluation of diagnostic criteria and training doctors to adhere to more empathetic practices, we are certainly taking a step forward. But we are only eliminating part of the problem. The true solution lies in raising the awareness of an entire society. Depression is not an illness; it is the art of how we grieve.

References

Vedantam, Shankar. "Criteria for Depression Are Too Broad, Researchers Say." April 07 2007. Washington Post. Dec 03 2007.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201693.html>.

Children & Adults Against Drugging America. "Depression." Dec 02 2007.
http://www.chaada.org/Depression.html>.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "They Yellow Wallpaper." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. New Jersey: Prentice, 2007. p. 589-593.