Patient Abandonment in Sigmund Freud’s Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Many individuals in today’s society are constantly endorsing convoluted demonstrations of mental conditions, and the resources that we have that deal with mental illnesses today are undoubtedly structured from a series of experiments during the early twentieth century. Sigmund Freud was one of the important figures during this time because Freud described his theories about repressed emotional trauma. He presented these ideas on a speech transcript and created vast awareness throughout the world about his claims on “psychic traumas” and “hysterical conditions”, as well as suggestions and solutions on how to cure these illnesses. Despite the early accomplishments of the study of psychoanalysis, hysterical studies were practically nonexistent to many wide ranges of physicians. Since this was the societal norm in the world of medicine, hysterical patients suffered tragically from unreasonable treatments from the grasps of these doctors, and two literary texts that support this claim are; Freud’s Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis and Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. 

In correlation with Freud’s first lecture from Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, he emphasizes the mundane attitudes of these physicians. Freud explains that the patient was sustaining “absence”, a condition when the unconscious mind takes over the entirety of your consciousness, which causes variations of inordinate personalities. These types of cases are regarded as superficial by individuals in medical studies, as such hysterically-diagnosed patients were most likely abandoned and were left “…to kindly nature to decide when and how [the person’s] optimistic prognosis shall be fulfilled” (Freud, 2201). This was a dreadful time for people who are getting diagnosed with hysteria since doctors don’t have the amount of knowledge to do anything against severe diseases of the brain. The lack of aforementioned studies is detrimental to the sympathetic attitudes these individuals are willing to give, and as a result, mental illnesses are regarded as a fraud and malingering (Freud, 2201). Doctors failed to comprehend psychological tantrums and the effects it had on people, which then led to some tragic ends amid societal norms.   

Freud’s remarks about the misfortunes of hysterical patients emphasized Dr. Breuer’s early accomplishments in the origins of psychoanalysis. Breuer was one of the few people who gave Freud the inspiration to pursue the studies of hysteria. This is evident by the showings of André Brouillet’s majestic painting about “A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière”, hanging on Freud’s office walls. This portrait is one of the best-known paintings in the history of medicine, as it gives a sense of hopefulness that discussions are being conducted in response to the escalating symptoms. Freud was fond of this painting because it encouraged interested students to continue the study that will help these people. It ratified Freud’s willingness to give credibility to Dr. Breuer’s initial response, because “…[Breuer] gave [his patient] both sympathy and interest, even though, to begin with, he did not know how to help her” (Freud, 2202). There is a very obvious contrast between Dr. Breuer’s response with the doctors, as the doctors had no such interests to even think of ways to help these patients, but Breuer showed his enthusiasm to try to understand his very first hysterical patient. In hindsight, this is how Breuer viewed the very first step of constructing the theory of psychoanalysis. Psychologists have to form the correct convictions and mindset before approaching a mentally ill person. They need to incline to formulate emotional connections with their patients to help them gain the trust they need to treat them. This is why Freud was inspired by Breuer’s individualism and sentimentality to help people who are suffering from hysteria. 

Charlotte Gilman, the author, The Yellow Wallpaper, illustrates a very similar response to Freud’s criticism of most doctors. This is depicted by Gilman’s use of allusion and imagery to emphasize the central idea she’s trying to convey. First of all, we can infer that the author is trying to portray John, the narrator’s husband, as someone who is obsessed with realism and will constantly reject any unexplained reasonings. At first, John seemed to care a lot for our narrator, but as time progressed we got to see John’s aggression advance. Gilman’s use of allusion to covertly mention Dr. Weir Mitchell, a popular neurologist who advocated “rest cure” (a self-therapeutic system that focuses on composure) as a form of treatment for mental disturbances. According to Gilman, it stated that “John says if I don’t pick up faster he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall… he is just like John and my brother, only more so” (650). This correlates with John’s growing restlessness with the narrator’s condition, which eventually led to him threatening the main character to send her to Weir Mitchell’s care if she doesn’t get any better. This demonstrates the inefficiency of Dr. Mitchell’s “rest cure”, as hindering human work and interaction causes some serious mental instability and concealing of power (Why I Wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Gilman). Gilman used imagery to illustrate how the narrator’s mental state gradually overtakes her, as throughout the progression of the story the mysterious black woman hiding under the shadow of the yellow wallpaper becomes more apparent and real in the eyes of the main character, while John thought her conditions were getting better. This series of examples support Gilman’s argument against physicians who neglect the recurring genre of mental instability, similar to Freud’s responses. It is said that Gilman’s purpose in writing The Yellow Wallpaper was to spread awareness to ratify how indifferent physicians are with hysterical symptoms. 

One can foresee the lusterless viewpoints that these physicians have for psychological conditions. Sigmund Freud discussed the various reasons why these medical professionals keep a conservative mindset. For example, doctors don’t have the amount of knowledge to consult proper treatment to their patients who are suffering from mental disturbances. Furthermore, this illustration gives Dr. Breuer the accreditation he deserves, as one of the few people who gave interest in beginning studies of psychoanalysis. Charlotte Gilman gave support to Freud’s argument by using a series of literary techniques, such as; irony, allusion, and imagery, to emphasize the importance of the rhetorical situation that centers on these apathetic doctors. Ultimately, we have to conclude that there are certain things we have to be open about, as our humanitarian disciplines gradually evolve. Our ideologies need to evolve with society so that we can rationalize certain circumstances better. In the case of these doctors, so many people suffered from their irrational advice just because they refused to accept this new occurrence.   

Work Cited:

Freud, Sigmund. Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis. W. W. Norton & Company, 1952. 

Gilman, C. P. (1985). The yellow wallpaper. London: Virago Pr.

Gilman, C. (1913, October). Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper. The Forerunner.

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