The Case of Ms. Blum: Depression, Migraines or PMS

The narrator falls into a state of deep depression following the birth of her baby, which is currently known now as postpartum depression. During the 1800’s they called it “temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency” a diagnosis common to women during that era. There was little or no knowledge for the treatment of postpartum depression. The doctors used “rest cure” as a form of treatment, the patient is prohibited from doing any kind of work. All they need is to rest, exercise, eat well and get enough air then they will recover. No external stimulation which lead to the deterioration of the narrator’s mental health in the story. She is ordered by her husband and brother, who are respected physicians to rest. She is isolated from everyone except her husband John and her sister in law Jennie the house keeper. Locked in a room with yellow wall paper, windows facing all direction, all the

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects about half of women who are of reproductive age, and the global prevalence for PMS is roughly 47.8% with percentages of women affected varying by country1. Symptoms of PMS are cyclic, occur during the luteal phase, and diminish with the onset of the menses2. There are more than 200 symptoms that have been associated with PMS, but the most common symptoms can be categorized into 3 groups: behavioral, psychological, and physical symptoms. Behavioral symptoms include fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, change in sexual interest, food cravings, and/or overeating2. Psychological symptoms include irritability, anger, depressed mood, crying, anxiety, tension, mood swings, difficulty concentrating,

The brain is a strong but delicate muscle inside the human body. However, if this muscle gets overworked it will affect the overall persona of that individual. Depression or any other mental diseases are not diagnoses or setbacks that should be taken lightly. Back in the 1800’s and 1900’s medicine and the knowledge of the individuals that decided to practice medicine was not extensive. Due to medicine, not being as advanced as it is today, a lot of patients were getting treating improperly. The character within The Yellow Wallpaper is a great example of not only a mental disease but also malpractice. Although the main character within The Yellow Wallpaper may be a woman of high social status, the narrator goes mad for the following reasons: she is extremely drugged with improper medicine, she lacks autonomy, and her post-partum depression escalates. Some might say that the story of The Yellow Wallpaper is simplistic, however, it can also be viewed that the simplicity of the story is what makes it complicated and comprehensive.

She seems to express how she feels She has a journal that she writes her experiences from day to day despite her doctor’s orders. She feels as if the journal relieves her mind and is an escape from the way she is being treated. She is forced to hide her journal because her husband would not approve of her activities because they were contradicting his orders of rest. In her journal, she expresses how the yellow wallpaper is bothersome to her. Her husband threatens to send her to another doctor (Mitchell?) who she has visited before and who seemed to have tortured her more than help, after she is visited by family and is constantly fatigued. Due to being confined to her room for excessive amounts of time

Since the narrator is left alone for most of the day, she allows her mind to go wild with fantasies and is forced to deal with her thoughts by herself. This ultimately chips away at her mental condition and makes her illness far worse. "I can see a strange, provoking, formless sort of figure, that seems to skulk about behind that silly and conspicuous front design." (Gilman 185) This quote

Clearly Vera has Major Depressive Disorder. According to the DSMV the person has to meet at least 5 of the 8 points for period in the criteria 2 weeks period and Vera fits the criteria. Vera has had the following symptoms for more than six weeks.

During this period (late 1800 -- early 1900's) it was common for physicians to treat depression with the "rest cure" of complete bed rest and limited intellectual activity. Therefore, despite her opposition to the treatment the narrator adheres to the restrictions with the exception of covertly writing in a journal about her feelings, daily routine and the mansion. Her initial focus is on the mansion, the surrounding gardens and the bedroom chosen for her during her stay.

The female narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper,” almost immediately tells the readers that she is “sick.” Being a physician of high standing, her husband diagnosed her condition as a temporary nervous depression with a slight hysterical tendency. He was not able to consider a more severe underlying mental disease that can result to more problems and complications when left unchecked. In her journal, she stated that she does not agree with the diagnosis and has her suspicions that the medical treatment needed for this type of diagnosis will not treat her. Having the correct medical diagnosis is crucial because once formulated, it will dictate the therapeutic actions that will be taken to treat the medical condition. The Yellow Wallpaper’s narrator had post partum depression.

The patient claimed that she had mild depression before her visit. She said that she felt like her job was unfulfilling and that she was disappointed that she did not have a partner. Once she came and sat down with Dr. Santos, she would talk for about ten minutes and then interrupt herself by apologizing saying that the doctor was ‘bored or had better things to do than listen to her’. She told her that was not the case and to keep going. She interrupted herself again three times during her session. Dr. Santos payed an appropriate amount of attention to Mallory. She was careful with her body language, eye contact, and made sure to make Mallory feel that she was interested in what she was

Charles Perkins Gillman used her short story work The Yellow Wallpaper, to bring awareness to the experiences of depression and the rest cure both mental, physically and the socially in the 1800s and early 1900s. Gilman herself suffered from post-partum depression during this time and prescribed the rest cure. As a result, her experiences and struggle are very similar to the ones of her main character in the story. While narrating The Yellow Paper, the main character and Gilman herself identify numerous reasons why the rest cure has numerous faults and isn’t the best method for this crippling mental disease.

Julie is a 22 year old multiracial female who has been studying psychology at the local community college. Her father recommended counseling to her after she attempted to overdose on NSAID two weeks prior to attending counseling for the first time. She threw up the medicine, called her father, and her father called the counseling center. Julie lives with her mother and younger brother currently. Julie describes her brother as her best friend and also reports a close relationship to her sister. Julie says her feelings of depression have been present since her parents separated when she was twelve. She feels a lot of responsibility to take care of her siblings and wishes she had more people with whom to

Everyone experiences some unhappiness in his or her lifetime whether it is a specific situation or not. It becomes more serious when the cause is a form of "depression." It is a fact that women experience depression about twice as much as men (1). These causes specifically for women can be complex and so are the solutions (3). A common syndrome affecting an estimated 3% to 8% of women in their reproductive years is called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) (4). PMDD is specifically known as a mood disorder of severe depression, irritability, and tension with symptoms worsening a week or so before a woman's menstrual period and usually settling out afterwards (5). PMDD can be devastating to

The controversy began when Premenstrual Syndrome was first considered for the DSM-III. Some felt that just by mentioning a natural biological function every woman has in the DSM would unreasonably stigmatize women as being mentally ill. Paula Caplan, PhD. was one of the biggest opponents to adding PMDD to the DSM (Chrisler, 2004; McKay, 2010). She felt that these symptoms were related to the stress that women have been put under since their battle to be treated as equals to men, and by labeling women with a mental illness only feeds a sexist society into believing that women “go crazy” once a month (Caplan, 1991). Like she, others questioned if premenstrual syndrome in any form even exists. While others felt there is indeed enough evidence to state that yes, PMDD is a real disorder affecting a minority of women (Di Giulio & Reissing, 2006). Considering the history of the medical field’s beliefs when it comes to the woman’s menstrual cycle, it is no wonder there would be such controversy on this

When we break our arm everyone runs forward to sign the cast but when we say we have depression everyone turns and runs the other way. This author shows how severe depression can form and issues that can be associated with severe depression. The way Elizabeth Wurtzel depicts depression and the substance abuse that can be related to severe depression is  impeccable in her non-fiction novel Prozac Nation. Depression affects more than 350 million people worldwide and is the most common of all the mental illnesses, it doesn’t have a cure but it is manageable with proper medication. Elizabeth Wurtzel has said “ I made ‘Prozac Nation’  a necessary reading because I write necessarily.  I tell my story because it is about everyone else: in 1993, people took pills to relieve the pain just like they do now, but it scared them; it doesn’t anymore, because talk is not cheap at all -- it is tender”i think this is very important  because it shows how hushed the talk about the facts on mental illness are. Although depression is shown to be an individual illness, the author effectively demonstrates the massive toll depression takes on family and friends. For example, depression takes a toll on your family and friends by having to watch you suffer and be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Secondly, your family and friends are stuck watching as depression takes you

The paper that I find is the NIH Progesterone Trial study. The researchers’ question is whether allopregnanolone has seizure reduction effect in progesterone-treated women with epilepsy or not. They divide enrolled research subjects into the study group with allopregnanolone and progesterone, placebo group with the treatment of intractable seizures. They test the seizure frequency changes from baseline to treatment, they also measure the serum allopregnanolone concentration. Their results indicate that there is no significant difference regarding changes in allopregnanolone serum levels and seizures frequency changes from baseline to treatment. However, there is a significant difference in a subgroup, which has a substantial level of premenstrual