The Nervous Housewife

Of Some Se

es to the neurologist there are a hundred that explain their symptoms as "stomach trouble", "backache", etc., w

in its trend; it would however have the small demerit of being false to life. Though the majority of women suffering from nervousness may be relieved or cured, a number cannot be essentially benefited. Some of them have temperaments utterly incompatible with matri

alistic attitude is the best, for if we were to remove much of the sentimental self-deception at present so prevalent, huge reforms would occur almost overnight.

is only appreciated when one sees the result of public health lectures and books. Many persons tend to develop all the symptoms they hear of, from pains and aches to me

What will be presented is history and to a certain extent treatment.

e the monotony of housework, temperament, or troubles with the husband. Furthermore, though some women understand well enough the source of their conflicts, they are ashamed to tell and rest mainly on the surface of their symptoms. To obtain the truth it is necessary to see the patient over and over again, to ge

rked, under-rested

were poor, her father being a mechanic in a factory town of Massachusetts. She had

ked fairly hard for rather small pay, but was strong, jolly, l

ely he was not very well for some time following a pneumonia in the third year of their marriage. They drew upon all their savings and

threw him out of work for six months, during which time they lived on an allowance from his union, his savings, and finally ran into debt. This greatly grieved the man and depressed the woman, but both bore up well under it until the birth of the second child, when t

part of the night. The husband was unable to help as he had previously done and the fatigue of the care of child and man brought a condition where the woman was tired all the time. St

o work as soon as possible but worked only part time for six months. At

he mother did most of the nursing, though by this time the father was able to help and did. The necess

ldom and her youthful good looks had largely been replaced by a sharp-featured anxiety. Though she ca

the care of her other two children and to get the house into shape again. Her milk was fairly plentiful, despite her fatigue and "jumpy nerves." Unfortunately at this time, when they had accumulated a little surplus and she was looking forward to better clothes for her family and more comforts, the plant at which

soon did), she made little progress. That she was suffering from a p

sciously gracious and sweet Lady Bountiful has come the social worker. Unfortunately social service has not yet dropped the name "Charity", perhaps has not been able to do so, largely beca

e social worker has become an indispensable part of the hospital organization, an investigator to bring in facts, a social adjuster

s what was done

home for this purpose was found by the agency and was that of a kindly elderly couple who took the woman into their hearts as well as over their threshold. The social worker arranged with a nursing organization to send a worker to

stem to help out one of its victims. That a sick man should be left to sink or swim, though he has previously been industrious and a good member of society, is injusti

ms. What system will do that? I fear it may be called socialistic to suggest that some of the fifteen billions spent last year on luxuries might better be shif

ver-rich, purp

the kind of woman usually held up as most commonly afflicted with "nervousness."

hard work and worry may bring the same results as idleness and dissatisfaction, but it is true that both de?nergize the organism, the b

he extravagant and struggling deliberately push their children into the same road. Mrs. De L. learned early that the chief objects of life in general were to keep up appearances and kill time; that

e insisted that she manage their household, which she did with rebellion for a short time, and then rather quickly broke away from it by turning over the househ

She became an accomplished dancer, ran her own car, followed the races, went to art exhibitions, subscribed to courses of lectures of which she would attend the first, dabbled in new religions, became enthusiastic: about social work for a month or two,-a

e but found herself in the way, though her children were greatly pleased and her husband sceptical. The need of excitement and change persisted; gradually an intense boredom came over her. Her interest in life was dulled a

at importance, no matter how the sleeplessness originates. For even if an idea or a disturbi

based on simple living and work, and that all the wise men from the beginning of the written word to our own times have shown the futil

child bored by lack of playmates, who brightens up at the sight of a woolly little dog, to the old a

her intelligence into service. Finally she was told bluntly that on these steps depended her health an

e given I cannot say. From the earliest time to this, necessity has been the main spur to purpose, and probably the lure of social competiti

ally sick woman who

housewife the subject is essentially medical. We shall therefor

hich there is overactivity of the thyroid gland and which is particularly prevalent among young women, is one of those diseases. In this condition excita

dened doctors is to find some fine woman who has acquired neuro-syphilis through her husband, though he himself may remain well. In the early s

sewife, particularly in the woman who has borne children. Frequently too the existence of hemorrhoids, resulting from constipation, acts to increase the irritability of a woman who is perhaps too modest to consult a physician regarding such trouble. Where such modesty exists (and it i

emphasize the fact that the nervousness of the housewife is

nting bad hygiene as

water, etc. It includes habits and times of eating, attention to the bowels, out

ry common, though there seemed nothing to quarrel about. The family was not rich, but lived in a comfortable apartment; there were no serious financial burdens, the children were reasonably healthy and good, and the closest qu

e the baby out. Before marriage she had been a stenographer, but never earned high pay and had no love for her work. In fact she gave it up with relief and found hou

indergarten and then had her own breakfast, which usually consisted of toast and coffee. At noon she had a very small piece of meat or an egg and a few potatoes with tea. At night she

r so, and consequently never had an appetite. The food thus nibbled usually was either spicy or sweet, and she consumed quite a bit of candy. Her bowels moved infrequently and she always

est on no more exalted cause then the condition of the bowels. But a more intimate questioning revealed sexual habits which are easily drifted into by people of an amorous turn of character and who are

diet, the care of the bowels and outdoor exercise. Since she was in perfect condition except for stoutness she coul

were imposed. Both the husband and wife agreed willingly to the

ousewife and upon ignorance of sex hygiene. Here were quarreling and impending marital disaster removed by attention to details in

e hyper?st

who really despised manners and the like, though he was conventional enough in his own way. Her mother was an old-fashioned housewife, fond of her home and family, in fac

She was slender, very pretty, with a quick, alert mind which jumped at conclusions, because labored analysis fatigued it. Above all, from the very start of life she was sensitive to a degree that perplexed her family, who were however intensely

to praise, the least criticism implied or outspoken cut like a knife; accustomed to being waited upon, she resented physical discomfort of the slightest kind. Second, there must also have been an actual physical sensitiveness

f a man whose ideas on art were limited to calling a picture "pretty", who loved sports and the pleasures of the table, and whose business motto was "Beat the other guy to it." A successful man, troubled with few subtleties either of approach or conscience, he viewed the marriage relationship in the old-fashioned way and the new American indulgence.

eds finesse in the initiation into marriage more than at any other time. Cave-man style outraged her every fiber, and the man

manners were good enough, the gusto of his eating annoyed her and took away her own appetite. When they went to a play together the coarse jokes and the plainly sensuous aroused his enthusiasm. He lacked subtlety and

e that came with the pregnancy. The nursing ordered by the doctor and expected by all around her nearly drove her "wild", she said, for she felt like a "cow", a "female." Indeed she reacted bitterly against the femaleness that m

g he did irritated her, and everything in the house made her feel as in a "luxurious cage." Yet she was by no means a feminist; she d

es, the revolt against her own sex feeling and her life situation, arose the neurosis. It took the form mainly of sudden unaccountable fears wi

kind of wife. Matrimonially she was a misfit, unless she met some man of a type like herself, though I doubt if any man could have pleased her. I doubt if her over-exacting taste w

ould not conceive of any change. We discussed the matter in all its ramifications, and though she and her husband agreed to the separation, I knew that he was determined to h

cientious housewife,-t

is type, often traditionally conservative and often extraordinarily radical, has this prevailing trait,-standards of right and wrong are set up somehow or other, and a remarkably consistent effort is made to m

uld start beating her, this last of course representing a type of humorous desperation that usually has a wish concealed in it. She was "worn to a frazzle", always tired, sleepless, of capricious appetite, irritable, complain

and admitted he was, which his wife corroborated. Evidently he was exasperated and worried as he gave the history of the case, with his

e disdained cosmetics of any kind, even the innocent rice powder. Her hands were quite unmanicured, though they were, of course, clean and neat. The hat was the simplest straw, home trimmed and ne

over the maid's slackness. Everything had to be spotless all the time; she could not bear the disordered moments of bedtime, of the early morning hours, of wash day, of meal preparation, of the children's room,

they don't dare call their soul their own. They don't bring their playmates into the house largely beca

rom the children. She feared "bad habits" as she feared immorality. She thought that any rudeness might grow into a habit, must be broken earl

a while; they try out words and phrases, playing with them and then pass on to a new experiment. They are insatiable seekers of experience, untiring in their quest for experiment,-and

herself, self-critical, scolded herself constantly because her house was never perfect, her work never done. She never had time to go o

ach was out of order ought she not have some stomach remedy; if her nerves were out of order would the doctor not prescribe a nerve tonic or a sedative?" Th

ressed, and this feeling is seriously disagreeable. To raise the ego-feeling one must remove feelings of inferiority, and here was a relatively simple situation. This woman really cared about clothes, admired them, but had got it into her head early in life that it was sinful t

succeeded, became as she put it more "careless of her things and more careful of her people." Of course one cannot expect h