Mental Disorders and Treatment from Freuds Perspective: The Yellow Wall Paper - Essay Example

Essay, World Literature Mental Disorders and Treatment from Freud’s Perspective: The YellowWall Paper. Introduction “The Yellow Wall Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman pictures the map of the mind of a woman afflicted with neurosis, and her mental state is challenged by her interplay with the wallpaper in her room. The state of the wallpaper is the barometer of the advancement of the illness and she views its existence from the different perspectives of the state of her mind. Freud’s psychoanalytical model elucidates how the psychological process can cause mental disorders. The influence of social factors is also the issue that demands attention, while chartering the course of treatment for the affected individual. When an individual has a fairly good idea about one’s illness and is positive about the course of treatment to be followed but is pressurized to follow some other path, one suffers from distress and it generates another set of mental problems. Denied the opportunity to act as per one’s free will, the individual is agonized from all ends. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic model Freud's psychoanalytic model is the first to show how psychological processes can result in mental disorders. Socio-cultural factors can also lead to mental disorders. Since mental illness concerns mostly the inner world of an individual, it is difficult to fathom the accurate reasons for a psychoanalyst about the mental state of the patient. The line of treatment for two patients cannot be identical. The broad sociological reason for the plight of the patient in the story is the fact that the woman allows herself to be inferior to men, in particular her husband, John. He is the husband as well as the physician and as such he exercises added authority to treat his wife who is ill. For a writer, suppression of the freedom to write is the worst form of mental torture. But her doctor husband imposes several other restrictions on her. He advises her to stay in bed, quashes her imagination, and tells her to discontinue writing. But though she thinks writing is advantageous and helpful for her to strengthen the process of recovery, she does not argue and protests against the command of her husband. She relents and thinks “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do" (Gilman, n. p.)? The latter part of her utterance indicates her lack of self-confidence and the inferiority complex that she has allowed to dominate her personality. There are many occasions when she beats the retreat as she listens patiently to the commands of her husband and says submissively “I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already" (3). Her mental disorder is clearly showing. Freud’s views of mental disorders and treatment are clearly articulated in the storyline and the woman mentioned in the wallpaper is the example to the mental state of women in general and what they go through with doctors, facing the reality of their sickness. Her self-confidence gives in to the advice and persuasiveness of the medical practitioner and she considers that he has authority and therefore he is right. In the story, if there is one individual who wants to get better at the earliest it is the woman, and deep down, she has a fairly good idea of the remedial measures that she needs to take of her own, but she is not allowed to have her way, being contradicted by her husband, her brother and on account of her position of personal insecurity in the family. Just like a sinking individual holds on to the straw for survival, she tries to establish relationship with the yellow wall paper. The characteristics of the wall paper as perceived by the woman relate symbolically to her illness and its evolution. She connects the social environment of which she is the part, with her mental disorder. The description of the paper goes thus “…dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide-plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions (Gilman, n. p.). Most of the critics have overlooked the fact that the wall paper is also supported by a strong wall, impregnable by the social standards prevailing then for the women! Symbolically it is the blockade and checks the progress. Freud must have closely watched individuals like the woman in the short story, to articulate his psychoanalytic model. Though she is not appreciative of her husband’s therapy, she has no option but to follow it under duress. Such a position is the genesis of the mental disorders, as one has to put up with the ridiculous suggestions. In the story, the woman is being led to such a desperate situation, that she contemplates suicide. At one stage she describes the advice of John to her thus: "He says no one but myself can help me out of it that I must use my will and self-control and not let any silly fancies run away with me" (Gilman, n. p.). That is a statement of the hypocrite, she knows it well, for he will not allow her to do what she wills to do and what she knows that she should do. The remedy desired by her is simple and straightforward. She should be allowed to make use of her faculties and express herself freely. John acts authoritatively and will not allow her to use her mind and express herself. The perception of life of John is entirely different from that of his wife. Writing is the power that sustains her life but John constantly makes critical remarks to deplete her will power and she is compelled to redirect her mental resourcefulness elsewhere. Elucidating such a situation, Kristen M. Beystehner quotes the findings of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis, 1998 “Psychoanalytic treatment is highly individualized and seeks to show how the unconscious factors affect behavior patterns, relationships, and overall mental health. Treatment traces the unconscious factors to their origins, shows how they have evolved and developed over the course of many years, and subsequently helps individuals to overcome the challenges they face in life”. So, the wall paper becomes the mentor of her fanciful world. With her flights of imagination she visualizes the capacity of the wall paper to accommodate people, colorful artwork, scenes and anything that is possible to create on the paper. She sees a mini-cosmos in that yellow wall paper in her imaginary world. Her dreams are in relation to the capacity of the wall paper to hold together heterogamous things and she admires this trait. She establishes a rapport with the wall paper and it becomes her immediate companion and the solace provider to her disturbed mind. Whether it is the case of descent into insanity or ascent into the state of perfect recouping of mental faculties is a matter of opinion in the context of the woman in the story. Abnormal behavior is behavior that negatively affects a person's life. Abnormal behavior also needs to be judged in societal terms as to what it considers normal in the social and cultural set up and the response of the concerned individual. No uniform method of treatment exists as no two individuals are alike and their mental disorders cannot be alike. Freud has only tendered the introductory analysis of the issue and the research is going on without intermission on the subject of mental disorders and treatment. But mind-study is such a unique subject as no two minds on this Planet Earth are alike. One cannot expect that other women will react in the same manner as the woman in the story reacted to the yellow paper. The insignificant looking things are significant to an individual, and the significant things may appear insignificant to another individual. Much depends upon the mental progression of the concerned individual and in such contexts Freud’s observations come up for consideration. For the woman in the story, the wall paper becomes the stage on which she begins to rehearse scenes after scenes generating from her inner world. Every movement relating to the wallpaper generates peculiar thoughts in her mind. Initially she is hesitant to tell anyone about the importance of wall paper in her life, but gradually she grows confident and does not care what anyone would think. She expresses her feelings freely unmindful of the opposition and without caring for the attitudes of others towards her disposition. She acts at will. When she peels off all the paper up to her reach, standing on the floor, from the spiritual point of view it means that she transcends all the opposition to her and the limitations that have been binding her hitherto, and she enjoys total freedom, viewed from all ends. It is not correct to say that she has gone insane, but she has crossed all the obstacles that hinder her progress on the road to recovery. Conclusion: In an overbearing patriarchal society a woman lives in a state of mental disorder, meaning she is not permitted act on her volition. She desperately tries to create her own space in the family. In societal and cultural terms she has an unspecified number of hurdles to tackle. In “The Yellow Wall Paper”, Charlotte Perkins Gilman provides interpretations on the state of a society which provides no facility to take care of those who suffer from mental disorders and thus provides food for thought for philosophers like Freud. As rightly elucidated by Freud, it is first necessary for the society and the medical practitioners to know what type of mental disorder it is before commencing the treatment to the patient. The treatment should be a service and not disservice for the growth of the personality of the individual. In the “The Yellow Wall Paper” whether its final destruction, is the barometer of advancement of her mental disorder or whether she is completely cured of the malady is the matter of ongoing debate amongst the researchers. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper, n. d. Beystehner, Kristen M. Psychoanalysis: Freud's Revolutionary Approach to Human Personality. n. d. Web. 25 June 2013 Read More