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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Kristen Capobianco

Mental Health Inequality for Women

Judith McDonnell

12/10/19
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Despite hundreds of years of works written about mental health and suicide, there is still

a known disparity between women and mental health. Famous sociologists such as Gilman and

Durkheim have been writing about mental health more than a hundred years ago. Gilman’s work

was disregarded because she was a woman, whilst Durkheim’s work was not appreciated by the

public till later after his publication and even he did not address women in his writings about

suicide. Sylvia Plath, much like Gilman, wrote about her own experiences with mental health

and suicide in the 1960s, about a hundred years after both Gilman and Durkheim. Plath’s work

still goes on to be appreciated, but she fell to her own demise, committing suicide. What is the

common denominator that causes women to go throughout their lives without getting proper

mental health help? Why are women left out of the conversation surrounding mental health?

Taking a deeper look into the history surrounding mental health and the sociological perspectives

that surround it may be where those answers lie.

“No living being can be happy or even exist unless his needs are sufficiently proportioned

to his means” (Durkheim, 1897). For a human to be happy, their needs need to be met.

However, living in a society where mental health inequality exists, is it possible for humans to

be happy until these disparities are addressed? According to the American Psychiatric

Association, key barriers to mental health treatment for women are: economic barriers, lack of

awareness of mental health issues, stigma associated with mental health, lack of time / related

support (time off work, child care), lack of appropriate intervention strategies including

integration of mental health and primary health care services (American Psychiatric Association,

2017). Charlotte Perkins Gilman can also contest to the inequalities women face in their mental
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

health and the inhumane treatments that women have faced throughout history to “treat” their

mental illnesses.

Suicide and Modernity

“Suicide and Modernity,” otherwise known as the infamous Suicide Study, written by

Emile Durkheim in 1897, was a groundbreaking study on why people commit suicide. Before

his study, people thought that those who committed suicide were morally corrupt and the outliers

of society, however, through this study Durkheim’s discovery on anomie which is the condition

to which society provides little moral guidance to individuals. Durkheim’s theory of anomie

gave a reason behind why people commit suicide and that it is not the morally corrupt that

commit suicide. It is ironic how Durkheim found that anomie, little moral guidance, is a

contributor to suicide and in his study and he only uses pronouns of him / he. Durkheim does not

include any female pronouns therefore providing little moral guidance to women in his study

further perpetuating his own theory. Doing so left women out of this important conversating on

mental health which led people to believe that the issues of depression and suicide does not

affect women, which is far from the truth. Although to get to the meat of Durkheim’s message

one has to look past his pronoun usage because there are major key points he makes insinuating

the inequalities that lead to mental health. “To pursue a goal which is by definition unattainable

is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness. Of course, man may hope contrary to

all reason, and hope has its pleasures even when unreasonable. It may sustain him for a time;

but it cannot survive the repeated disappointments of experience indefinitely” (Durkheim, 1897).

Durkheim speaks to the roles one is expected to fill in society and how the means of production
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

pushes one to want more and more, however that is not fulfilling. It makes the individual want

more and more of what they cannot fully obtain. In society today the main goal is to make

money and be rich, the American dream. Even if a person does not admit they are working for

the so-called “American dream,” if they are working under capitalism that is exactly what they

are working for. The greed of capitalism drives people to want more which leaves them feeling

empty. Couple the greed of capitalism, unattainable goals, lack of affordable healthcare and

those are the key barriers to mental health treatment for women. According to the American

Psychiatric Association, key barriers to mental health treatment for women are economic

barriers, lack of time / related support (time off work, childcare), lack of appropriate intervention

strategies including integration of mental health and primary health care services (American

Psychiatric Association, 2017). The greed of capitalism causes unattainable goals which

therefore causes economic barriers, lack of time off work, and lack of health care. Furthermore,

perpetuating the causes of depression in women.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes “The Yellow Wallpaper” in such a unique style whereas

the reader cannot decipher what is real, and what is a figment of the narrator’s imagination. The

narrator complains that her husband John, who is also her doctor, belittles both her illness and

her thoughts and concerns in general. She contrasts his practical, rationalistic manner with her

own imaginative, sensitive ways. Her treatment requires that she do almost nothing active, and

she is especially forbidden from working and writing. She feels that activity, freedom, and
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

interesting work would help her condition and reveals that she has begun her secret journal in

order to “relieve her mind.” The treatment that John wanted to use to treat his wife is called the

rest cure invented by Silas Weir Mitchel. Silas Weir Mitchell developed the rest cure in the late

1800s for the treatment of hysteria, neurasthenia and other nervous illnesses. It became widely

used in the US and UK but was prescribed more often for women than men. It was frequently

used to treat anorexia nervosa. The treatment kept some patients alive and others out of asylums

though some patients and doctors considered the cure worse than the disease. The rest cure

lasted six to eight weeks and involved isolation from friends and family. It enforced bedrest and

constant feeding of foods high in fat and milk based and patients were forced fed if necessary.

Due to the high fat content of the forced diet and bedrest doctors used massage and electroshock

therapy to maintain muscle tone (Oxford University Press, 1991). Patients were prohibited from

talking, reading, and writing. This is just one example of multiple inhumane “treatments” for

women suffering from mental illness. Throughout history women have been nearly tortured in

hopes to “cure” their mental illnesses. Gillman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a symbol for

trapped women constantly crawling and stooping, looking for an escape from behind the main

pattern of the wallpaper. The women are trapped within the walls, the women who have been

trapped in their own heads and surrendered to the torture of their treatments.

Mental Health and Women

What Gilman described in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is not just exclusive to when it was

published in 1892, this is not phenomenon in women’s mental health, this has been going on
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

throughout history. A grotesque procedure used to treat mental health are lobotomies.

Lobotomies may feel medieval in nature; however, they were a common practice not too long

ago. The use of lobotomies as a treatment for mental illness increased in the 1940s and 50s, and

approximately 60% of these procedures were conducted on women, despite more men being in

hospitals than women (The Dot and Line, 2017). BoJack Horseman, a series on Netflix, sums

up the reason behind that in a quote. Mrs. Sugarman’s son, Crackerjack, dies unexpectedly and

whilst she is grieving, her husband Joseph says: “As a modern American man, I am woefully

unprepared to manage a woman’s emotions. I was never taught, and I will not learn” Raphael

Bob-Waksberg & Steven A. Cohen (2017) BoJack Horseman. Instead of Joseph helping his

wife through her grief-induced depression, he took away her mind entirely. Mrs. Sugarman does

not appear in the flesh in the show after that episode, but the impact her of lobotomy permeates

the rest of the season. Beatrice, Mrs. Sugarman’s daughter, sees the ghoulish silhouette of her

mother and the scar on her head that reminds her that she was never really her mother after the

operation. Her mother’s shell of a person haunts Beatrice when her father reminds her what

happens to women when they let their emotions get the best of them “come on now, be strong,

you can’t let your womanly emotions consume you. You don’t want to end up like your mother,

do you?” Raphael Bob-Waksberg & Steven A. Cohen (2017) BoJack Horseman. Beatrice’s

mother post-lobotomy is an insidious, chilling reminder that the stigma surrounding mental

health illness is a real horror. In both “The Yellow Wallpaper” and BoJack Horseman, men

control women’s mental health, and women were not listened to or cared for. Women are
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

supposed to live up to societal standards and be perfected, a theme that Sylvia Plath knew too

well.

Sylvia Plath’s Edge

One of Sylvia Path’s last works titled Edge and reflects the themes of resignation and

hopelessness. The poem describes how women are expected to do nothing but fit in the societal

mold of perfection, and then die. The stanzas of Edge that holds the most significance is the last

line of the poem: “The moon has nothing to be sad about, staring from her hood of bone. She is

used to this sort of thing. Her black cackle and drag.” (Sylvia Plath, Edge, 1960). The moon is

personified as a woman, who looks down at the scene without concern because she is

accustomed to these tragedies. The perfect women’s death is not unnatural or unusual but a part

of human existence. The ironic detachment lies in the social stigma against suicide and Plath’s

belief that it is of no significance. It does not have any effect on ‘cosmic order’ as reflected in

the moon’s perspective. The moon being personified as a woman suggests that women are more

accustomed to tragedies than men are, insinuating the inequality between men and women. This

bleak poem reads even more tragic as one learns that Sylvia Plath committed suicide soon after

Edge was written. The poem sounds like a cry for help that she never receives, and that most

women will never receive.

Women and Postpartum Depression

Women are stigmatized in society, oversexualized and bound to perfection. Women are

supposed to be the perfect mother and wife however postpartum depression affects 3 million
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

women in the United States every year depression (Spaorito, Ryan & Teachman, 2011).

Postpartum depression occurs after childbirth and causes women to develop severe depression

which affects their ability to bond and care for their baby. Most women are afraid to come

forward with their postpartum depression because of the guilt they have not being able to bond

with their own child. A song that encapsulates the feelings of postpartum depression is She Lays

Down by The 1975. The song is from the perspective of a son whose mother has postpartum

depression a few lyrics go as followed: “My hair is brown, she’s scared to touch and she just

wants to feel something and I don’t think that’s asking for too much and when I go to sleep it’s

when she begins to weep, she’s appalled by not loving me at all” (She Lays Down, The 1975,

2016). The song goes on to describe the guilt the mother feels not being able to fully love her

son and turns to substance abuse to help her feel something. Postpartum depression is often left

untreated as women frequently report feeling ashamed about seeking help and hold concerns

about being labeled as a ‘bad mother’ that they are battling depression (Spaorito, Ryan &

Teachman, 2011). Coming forward with having depression is hard enough, to add the stress of

being a new mother and the anxieties that come with that as well is hard to deal with.

Postpartum depression is one of the most treatable forms of depression, then why are all these

women are suffering in silence? To reflect on Gilman’s Yellow Wallpaper, for centuries women

have been afraid of being labeled as insane, undesirable, and forced to ‘treat’ their mental

illnesses with barbaric procedures such as the rest cure or lobotomies. Coupled with the

stigmatization of mental illness throughout society, that is enough for any woman to suffer in

silence.
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Women’s Mental Health: The Facts

According to the World Health Organization: depressive disorders account for 42% of the

disability from neuropsychiatric disorders among women compared to 30% among men.

Leading mental health problems of older adults are depression, organic brain syndromes and

dementias, a majority are women. An estimated 80% of 50 million people affected by violent

conflicts, disasters, and displacements are women and children. The rate of violence against

women ranges from 16% to 50%. At least one in five women suffer from rape or attempted rape

in their lifetime. (World Health Organization, 2019). Depression, anxiety, psychological

distress, sexual violence, domestic violence and escalating rates of substance use affect women

to a greater extent than men across different countries and different settings. The high

prevalence of sexual violence that women are exposed to and the corresponding high rate of Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder following such violence, renders women the largest single group of

people affected by this disorder. Women are also exposed to greater poverty, discrimination,

and socioeconomic disadvantage. Low social rank is also a predictor of depression. Women’s

social status is reinforced in the workplace as they are more likely to have low level jobs with no

level of authority. Tradition gender roles still in place in society further increase susceptibility

by stressing passivity, submission, and dependence (World Health Organization, 2019). To gain

improvement in women’s status in society, would also bring about improvements in women’s

mental health.
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Gilman and Durkheim both introduced the topic of mental health in society and started

conversations around it. The conversation is the first thing that needs to be brought forward in

order to adequately address the mental health disparities that women face. Mental health takes

on many faces and is a different experience for everyone that struggles with it. Women, more

than others, tend to suffer in silence because of the disturbing history of mental health treatment

on women and the stigmatization of women and mental health in society. Sylvia Plath’s poems

encapsulate the feelings of depression and hopelessness and how women are made to suffer in

society. A staggering 1 in 5 women will suffer from sexual assault which brings along post-

traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. 1 in 500 women suffering from sexual assault

would still be too much. In order to decease the disparities of women’s mental health the first

thing that should be addressed is how women are victimized and oppressed in a society that

blames them for their own issues. A quote by Gilman sums it up best: “in a sick society,

women who have difficultly fitting in are not ill but demonstrating a healthy and positive

response” Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Resources

Condorelli, R. (2016, March 25). Social complexity, modernity and suicide: an assessment of

Durkheim's suicide from the perspective of a non-linear analysis of complex social systems.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4807205/.

Gender and women's mental health. (2013, June 24). Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/.

Mathew Healy, 2016, She Lays Down, Recorded by: The 1975 on I Like it When You Sleep, For

You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It

Mental Health Disparities . (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/cultural-

competency/education/mental-health-facts.

Nickalls, S., Sedghi, S., Vilas-Boas, E., & Maher, J. (2019, May 9). We Need to Talk About

BoJack Horseman Season 4's Most Shocking Scene. Retrieved from https://dotandline.net/we-

need-to-talk-about-bojack-horseman-season-4s-most-shocking-scene/.

Raphael Bob-Waksberg & Steven A. Cohen (2017) BoJack Horseman

Plath, S. (n.d.). Edge by Sylvia Plath. Retrieved from

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49009/edge-56d22ab50bbc1.
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RUNNING HEAD: Mental Health Inequality for Women

Saporito, Ryan & Teachman (2011) Saporito JM, Ryan C, Teachman BA. Reducing stigma toward

seeking mental health treatment among adolescents. Stigma Research and Action. 2011;2:9–21.

doi: 10.5463/SRA.v1i1.2. 

Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/restcure.