Throughout history, women's mental health issues have been universally considered insignificant. Hysteria, the first female mental illness dating back to around 1900 BC in Egypt, was originally attributed to the wandering of the uterus throughout the body. Women were generally confined to the home under Rest Care and told they were mentally unstable when they acted outside of their expectations. In extreme cases, some women were sent to mental asylums and subjected to treatments such as lobotomization and electroshock therapy. Today these assumptions seem ridiculous, but when Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote “Yellow Wallpaper,” it was common to believe that women could become sick, even mad, just because of their female anatomy. These socially accepted methods of treatment validated the control and discrediting of women, which helped create many of the problems they were trying to solve. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “The Yellow Wallpaper” was first published in 1892, at a time when understanding of mental illness was beginning to modernize. Although not explicitly stated in the story, it can be inferred that the main character, Jane, suffers from postpartum depression after the birth of her child, as well as general nervous anxiety about her marriage . Her husband, John, who is a doctor, takes her to a luxurious estate and confines her to his quarters, where he forbids her from working and prescribed phosphates and tonics. Jane's brother, who is also a high-ranking doctor, agrees with John's treatment method. Through Jane's internal narration, we begin to uncover the deeper story of abuse and degradation at the hands of John. Jane casually mentions, through offhand comments, that John sometimes hits her and controls who she can see/interact with. John also demeans her by calling her nicknames such as "little girl" or "silly goose", then turns around and says that she must behave for her and her child's sake when she objects. John also gave him “a time prescription for each hour of the day” to follow. Jane continues to believe that John treats her well, even though the anecdotal evidence presented tells a different story. These anecdotes portray John as a manipulative and micromanaging abuser using common techniques such as gaslighting, isolation, and victim role-playing. As the story progresses, we begin to see Jane's descent into madness manifest, where she begins to display symptoms of what is colloquially known as Cabin Fever. Although not an officially diagnosable disorder, its symptoms can consist of anxiety, agitation, possessiveness, and feelings of claustrophobia; all the feelings that Jane experiences during her internal torments. Jane still longs for the freedom she initially desired, but her growing fixation on wallpaper overwhelms her thoughts. John begins to worry about his wallpaper obsession, but he refuses to change the wallpaper for fear of giving in to his neurotic worries. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper now from our expert writers. Get Custom Paper EssayGilman projects his real-life experiences into the story by having John threaten to send Jane to.