Depression is a public health issue and considered a mental illness and a disability, it affects over 14 million adults with women 18 to 45 years of age accounting for the largest proportion of this group (NIMH, 2012). Decades ago when women suffered from postpartum depression, stress, anxiety, and exhaustion, they were committed to an asylum also called mad houses and would be considered insane and locked up. The asylums were often run by men without medical degrees and untrained staff. Some of the women would be treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), drugs, many were strapped down to beds and some were just locked away and considered incurable. Women were treated with Mercury and Antimony; which both are toxic, they were given lobotomies
Many people and characters experience traumatic changes or events. The book Maus written by Art Spiegelman includes the story of Anja Spiegelman. She was a mother of two with a history of depression that slowly worsened over time. The disheartening life of the young mother, somber and fearful, would slowly start to deteriorate after the birth of her first son, Richieu. Anja would go on to have postpartum depression, a depression that began after her first born son passed during the time of the Holocaust and lasted due to her survivor’s guilt.
In 2001, the nation was shocked into questioning the systems in which help the mentally ill. On June 20th, seemly picture perfect housewife, Andrea Yates, drowned her five children in the bathtub. Rusty Yates, Andrea’s husband, left for his job prior to his mother being able to arrive to the Yates household to help oversee Andrea and her children. For several years prior, after her first child, Andrea had come down with postpartum depression. With each and every pregnancy, it became far worse until she had develop postpartum psychosis.
Although life during the 1800s and early 1900s weren’t all that great, to begin with, compare that to how asylums treated patients during this time, the normal population life should have seen life as a simple breeze in the wind. There is a reason that our first thoughts when thinking of asylums is horror and it’s because of all of the horror shows that actually happen at these areas. Then comes in a place that has a new idea of treating patients, a new of thinking that never had been seen before. A new revolution when it comes to the psychological medical field. Step in Danvers State Hospital.
According to the ADAA, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, in 2015, 16.1 million adults in the United States have experienced depression at one point of their life. A well-known electrical procedure called Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy (ECT) was used back in the 1930’s and 1940’s and still currently used today to treat depression and other mental illnesses to trigger a brief seizure. It was to believe to result to reversing symptoms of certain mental illnesses and can be an option for mentally ill patients when medications are not effective. However, ECT was often represented as an abusive form of control towards mentally ill patients in movies and TV shows when their behavior is unmanageable. In the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched uses ECT to
Context. Postnatal depression is one of the most frequent difficulties viewed as behavioral issues and mental sickness/problems in women about four to six weeks after giving birth. It’s a major public health issue given its prevalence and impact not only on mothers and babies but also to their households as well. However, untreated postnatal depression is well-known to suffer adverse results such as unfavorable parenting practices and impaired mother-baby bonding, which in return is known to affect rationale and emotional growth of the baby. The gravest, of course, is maternal suicide and infanticide.
Ms. Fisher is a twenty-eight- year- old African American female, who was referred for Mental Health Skill Building Services, due to experiencing the following psychiatric problems: depressed mood (daily); diminished interest in most activities (daily), insomnia (3-4x weekly); loss of energy (daily); difficulty concentrating (daily); easily overwhelmed (daily); suicidal ideations/attempts (last attempt October 4, 2016); overwhelming feelings and racing thoughts (daily3-4x weekly). She indicated at this point, she found herself becoming consistently down/sad, but was unaware of how serious her depression was, until she had her second child in 2015, and experienced postpartum depression. She reports being admitted into CJW Tucker’s Pavilion
Along with the isolation and neglect of individuals experiencing mental illness, the use of harsh medicines and torturous inhumane methods were present in the 1900s. One of these methods was shock therapy, “insulin shock therapy injected high levels of insulin into patients to cause convulsions and a coma,” (Fabian and Catchings). It was believed that once the patient were revived from this induced coma they would be cured of their “madness” (Fabian and Catchings). In the institutions, which were created with the intent to assist the mentally ill were instead torturing the patients psychologically, often causing more paranoia and insanity. Another treatment used in asylums were lobotomies.
Many saw these treatments as the best solution but based on all the effects that happened without any type of consent, and how much they targeted women, there is no doubt that mental health practices in the early 1900s hurt more people than they helped. It is easy to look back to where the practices started to see how poorly they hold up by current standards. One of the first “cures” was referred to as hydrotherapy, this was
Without a doubt, the birth of a child in each family is a momentous event. Can you imagine if that joyful event turned into sadness and guilt and being withdrawn from your newborn baby? Postpartum depression is a serious illness that usually happens after the birth of a child. It is a type of depression that lasts for a long time. It affects not only the mom but also the father and the whole family as well.
Throughout recent years, mental illness has become a belittled and “taboo” topic in a multitude of different societies. As a result, a majority of the world’s population isn’t exactly clear as to how one should approach those suffering from mental instability. Unlike physical illness, where an entire system of doctors and hospitals and medical research developed in order to cater to those who were physically ill, mental illnesses do not get nearly as much attention. Some would argue that a physical illness proves to be significantly more detrimental to one’s day to day life. However, observation of mentally ill individuals proves that mental illness can be as equally debilitating (you probably know someone in your life who has died from the
In today’s society, when someone mentions a mental institution most people picture a dark, dirty, and horrendous hospital like structure. While this image may at times be accurate, this was not always the case. Mental institutions, otherwise known as asylums, have a past full of ups and downs. During different time periods standards for care in these facilities fluctuated from proper care to improper care. With more of an understanding of these mental abnormalities we have a better chance of finding solutions and resolving them.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the narrator, Jane, has postpartum depression. In order to cure this depression, John, Jane’s husband and a doctor, administer the rest treatment on her. Gilman wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper” through her personal experience. Along with writing “The Yellow Wallpaper” she wrote an explanation for why she wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
That it is one that looks to supress women and their symptoms not cure them. She holds nothing back in explaining that she was given various relaxation and sleeping pills to keep her docile and compliant. If she did not conform they would up the treatment and even punish her. This is no way for a hospital to be supposedly helping people. Kaysen wants her readers to understand the stigmatization that occurs not only within these institutions but in the world.
In the movie I saw many disorder with all the women within the mental institution but I also notice the amount of pills the women were given. I found out the psychological term for this was Psychopharmacology.
Postpartum depression is something some mother 's get after having a baby. Postpartum needs to be more talked about to mother 's. There are many mother 's who go diagnosed with postpartum because they don 't know what it is. Postpartum can happen right after birth, although some mother 's don 't notice until around three weeks after the baby. This is a very common disease through out mother 's. You can actually get post partum with second birth, even though you never had it after your first. With postpartum you can feel hopeless and worthless as a mother.