Mitchell first publicly described his Rest Cure'in 1873, when he presented his discovery of the success of rest in treating locomotor 10 ataxia, a nervous disease. As years went by, he described the development of the cure as a combination of methods used successfully to treat not only locomotor ataxia, but also gunshot wounds and nervous women.
What is the Weir Mitchell rest cure?
By the time he died in 1914, the Weir Mitchell Rest Cure had been translated into four other languages and had committed disciples around the world, 2 despite the growing reputation of Sigmund Freud. During his lifetime, Mitchell's personal reach was extensive and colorful. He put British novelist George Meredith on a buttermilk diet.
Why did Mitchell prescribe the rest cure only to nervous women?
But using their minds so extensively, Mitchell believed, could easily deplete their energy and fry their fragile nerves. Mitchell proceeded to prescribe the rest cure almost exclusively to these women—“nervous women,” writes Mitchell, “who, as a rule, are thin and lack blood.”
Why did Mitchell remove patients from their homes?
To insure rest, Mitchell usually removed patients from their homes or at least brought in a professional nurse, as family attention was too pleasant for any patients who might not be legitimately ill or who might subsequently decide it would be nice to remain in bed a little longer.
What is the rest cure?
The number of textbooks describing the rest cure after Fat and Blood was published makes clear how eagerly the medical establishment embraced the new therapy. The cure, which was prescribed almost exclusively for women, had three core elements: isolation, rest, and feeding, with electrotherapy and massage added to counteract muscle atrophy.
What was the rest cure used to treat?
Noticing that many nervous women looked thin and anemic, Mitchell assumed that their physical and mental health would improve once they gained weight and red blood cells. The function of the rest cure was to help patients gain fat and blood as rapidly as possible, through a rich diet and minimal exertion.
What were the elements of the rest cure?
The rest cure was invented by Silas Weir Mitchell, an American neurologist in the 19th century, and became popular among American and British neurologists. The cure was used to treat hysteria and involved four basic elements: bed rest, force-feeding and overfeeding, massage, and electrical stimulation of the muscles.
Who was primarily prescribed the rest cure?
The cure, which was prescribed almost exclusively for women, had three core elements: isolation, rest, and feeding, with electrotherapy and massage added to counteract muscle atrophy. While Mitchell outlined his methods in Fat and Blood , he and many other neurologists refined the details as time went by.
What is the resting cure in The Yellow Wallpaper?
Gilman was treated with the “rest cure”, devised by Mitchell, as is the protagonist of the story; like an infant, she was dosed, fed at regular intervals and above all ordered to rest. Mitchell instructed Gilman to live as domestic a life as possible “and never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as you live”.
What does her illness symbolize in The Yellow Wallpaper?
"The Yellow Wallpaper" details the deterioration of a woman's mental health while she is on a "rest cure" on a rented summer country estate with her family. Her obsession with the yellow wallpaper in her bedroom marks her descent into psychosis from her depression throughout the story.
What is the work cure?
Herbert James Hall, MD (1870-1923), was a pioneer in the systematic and organized study of occupation as therapy for persons with nervous and mental disorders that he called the "work cure." He began his work in 1904 during the early years of the Arts and Crafts Movement in the United States.
What was the rest cure?
In civilian practice when faced with patients with neurosis and hysteria he developed his “rest cure”. It was based, he said, on moral and physical components described in his book Fat and blood2; the title reflected his experience that women with hysteria were often thin and anaemic.
Who was the first neurologist to work on hysteria?
historical note. rest cure. hysteria. Weir Mitchell 1 (1829–1914), the American neurologist, renowned for his work on causalgia, was also interested in hysteria. He first encountered it in soldiers during the civil war. In civilian practice when faced with patients with neurosis and hysteria he developed his “rest cure”.
What did Dr. Mitchell write about his success?
Mitchell writes with apparent satisfaction about his successes in his essay, Fat and Blood. Mrs. C’s “gain in flesh about the face” and resumed menstruation after years of missing periods was evidence enough for the neurologist that fat, blood, and vitality had been restored. Soon, other physicians adopted the practice, which seemingly encouraged Mitchell, or at least allowed him to absolve himself of full accountability. “I am fortunate now in having been able to show that in other hands than my own, this treatment has so thoroughly justified itself as to need no further defence or apology from its author.”
Where did Dr. Mitchell work?
Mitchell found his place on the battlefield as a young surgeon, working at a specialty ward in Philadelphia. He quickly took an interest in the not-yet-understood “nerve injuries” of amputees who experienced inexplicable, ghostly pain lingering where an arm or leg had once been.
Why did Mitchell believe women should use their minds?
But using their minds so extensively, Mitchell believed, could easily deplete their energy and fry their fragile nerves.
How much weight did Elizabeth Mitchell gain?
By the end of the month, she’d gained 40 pounds and a spot among his most successful cases. The rest cure that Mitchell pioneered rose to surprising popularity in the late 1800s, and several physicians adopted and practiced the treatment for decades.
What was the antidote to the dude ranch?
For men, the antidote was simple: Go West, chop some wood, maybe even cook some mannish meat over a rip-roaring fire. In a way, it was the 19th-century, professionally-prescribed analogue to a trip to the dude ranch. But the cure was not quite so simple for women.
Did Lambe say that women could never have afforded private psychiatric care?
Lambe points out that there were countless women, often immigrants or from poor populations, who could never have afforded private psychiatric care. Instead, these women often ended up in public asylums, or received no care at all, and their suffering and part in the history of American psychiatry stayed out of sight.
Who developed the rest cure?
In 1877, a prominent American physician named Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell developed what he called the "rest cure" for hysterical women. It involved strange restrictions and routines, which in this day and age would be considered cruel and unusual imprisonment. He wrote, "I do not permit the patient to sit up or to sew or write or read. The only action allowed is that needed to clean the teeth." At the end of six weeks to two months of such treatment, he expected that women would be as good as new. It was stated by a medical journal of the time, that a physician must "assume a tone of authority" and that the idea of a "cured" woman was one who became "subdued, docile, silent, and above all subject to the will and voice of the physician." Famous
How long did the rest cure last?
society at the time insisted on a rest cure, which forces the narrator to adopt to her environment. The rest-cure usually lasted six to eight weeks. The treatment enforced bed rest and constant feeding o milky and fatty diet. Patients were often prohibited from external contacts and other activities. The doctors then used massage and electrotherapy in maintaining muscle tone. Today’s treatments involve counselling, hormone therapy, antidepressants and support
