Women and depression in interwar Britain : case notes, narratives and experiences
This research is an attempt to reconstruct the lived experiences of female patients who were deemed to suffer from depression in interwar Britain and explore the ways in which these sufferers understood and attributed their mental illness. In order to achieve these goals, this research analyses womenâs own narratives embedded in medical records, notably case notes of the Maudsley Hospital and Holloway Sanatorium, and applies new concepts of life cycle and life event. What female patients experienced in the course of their mental illness, including the types and details of depressive symptoms, were largely decided by their social class, age and gender. They usually related the onset of depression to what they underwent in their daily lives, contrary to professional attributions which stressed heredity as a decisive aetiological factor. The case histories demonstrate that the patients were familiar with medical knowledge, not necessarily the latest ideas though, and that the lay understanding of health and ill-health affected considerably their experiences of mental depression. Moreover, the medical records inform us about womenâs life in general and womenâs sexuality: living as a woman in the interwar
Hwang, Hye Jean
DA Great Britain ; RC Internal medicine
Women and depression in interwar Britain : case notes, narratives and experiences. This research is an attempt to reconstruct the lived experiences of female patients who were deemed to suffer from depression in interwar Britain and explore the ways in which these sufferers understood and attributed their mental illness. In order to achieve these goals, this research analyses womenâs own narratives embedded in medical records, notably case notes of the Maudsley Hospital and Holloway Sanatorium, and applies new concepts of life cycle and life event. What female patients experienced in the course of their mental illness, including the types and details of depressive symptoms, were largely decided by their social class, age and gender. They usually related the onset of depression to what they underwent in their daily lives, contrary to professional attributions which stressed heredity as a decisive aetiological factor. The case histories demonstrate that the patients were familiar with medical knowledge, not necessarily the latest ideas though, and that the lay understanding of health and ill-health affected considerably their experiences of mental depression. Moreover, the medical records inform us about womenâs life in general and womenâs sexuality: living as a woman in the interwar
women depression interwar_britain case note narrative experience attempt_reconstruct live_experience female patient deem suffer depression interwar_britain explore_way sufferer understood attribute mental_illness order_achieve goal analysis woman narrative embed medical record notably case note hospital apply new concept life_cycle life event female patient experience course mental_illness include type detail depressive symptom largely decide social_class age_gender usually relate onset depression underwent daily_life contrary professional attribution stress decisive factor case histories patient familiar medical_knowledge necessarily late idea though lay health ill_health affect considerably experience mental depression moreover medical record inform woman life general woman sexuality living woman interwar