Wear and Tear by Mitchell
Hong Yen Pham
Wear and Tear, or Hints for the Overworked.
By S. Weir Mitchell
Silas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer. According to the bibliography was published by Enersen, Mitchell M.D. studied at the University of Pennsylvania to receive his M.D and was in charge of Turner’s Lane Hospital in Philadelphia. Mitchell pursued his interest in nerve disease and wounds of the nerves. According to Enersen, “Perhaps he is best known for the establishment of his Rest Cure, a method of treatment for patients, especially women, who suffered from hysteria and neurasthenia.” The cure becomes the standard treatment for many decades, especially in England. Enersen also included in his document that “Later in life… Mitchell devoted his attention to writing novels and poetry.” They usually are about his war experiences and his psychological insights.
Beginning with his 1871 book, Wear and Tear, Mitchell began to reveal to the medical world his famous “Rest Cure” for nervous maladies. In this book, he addresses the problem of why American women are worn out and weak when they attempt to nurse their children. He claims that the root of this problem is that young children are suffering physically and mentally from long hours in school. During this time in their childhood, they are undergoing changes of body chemistry and increased sensitivity (Mitchell). Spending more than six hours a day in school and an average of three hours a day for additional out of schoolwork deprives them of fresh air and exercise that they need to have the best health. The girls are suffering the most from this education system because boys of to day are getting their toughest education later. In addition, late hours, styles of dress, prolonged dancing and extreme temperature contribute to the mischief (Mitchell). This affects the children long term and is root of the reason why American women cannot keep up with outside nationalities when it comes to raising children.
In his book, he states that men should not use the brain daily more than six hours, and nor children more than three. Mitchell claims that women would do far better if the brain was slightly tasked and the school hours but three or four a day until they reach the age of seventeen at least.
Mitchell, S Weir. Wear and Tear.1871. Philidelphia: Lippincott, 1872. GoogleBooks. 29-40
This is the revision. I added proper citations.
I am interested in to know what happened to this idea. I think that most people would agree that body fatigue has become more common as people work longer harder days. I find the comparison lifestyles to study how fatigue effects the body interesting and wonder if this was the precursor to future studies. Side note. Did you know that there are current studies that are testing to see if the decreased melanin levels are influencing cancer. I wonder if this idea could be linked to Mitchell as well.
ReplyDeleteI found this text to be particularly interesting because I have never really heard much about this, so it was beneficial to see someone's take on the effects of fatigue on the body.
ReplyDeleteIt's evident in today's society, that the more hours you put into work, the more tired or fatigue you are going to be. I think it is odd that the reasoning women are not as healthy and somewhat unable to feed their children when it comes to child bearing age is due to the hours they put in when they are younger.
I am looking forward to discussing the article more in depth in class.
In response to the second discussion question: my opinion of this claim is that it's interesting and somewhat true. Throughout history women have endured more than men such as bearing children and things of that nature. If a man doesn't know a woman that has suffered of fatigue whether it be from having children or taking care of children than it makes sense than man does not know woman.
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ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the fact that the ideas of fatigue we slowly coming into view, however, the article focused mainly on the women's perspective. I'm curious to see what his view on the men's perspective was or if, in 1871, it was only a "one sex" argument.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about this before and found it to be very interesting. I thought it was a bit weird that a doctor had to tell people they needed more rest to get better but overall I totally agree with what Mitchell is doing. I find the first quote to be very interesting and i feel that it is related today very much.
ReplyDelete@Hannah, I learned in some of my classes that brain capacity is unlimited. So being tired or fatigue could possibly not be true. There was this person with photographic memory and whatever he looked at, he remembered it. Was there really fatigue in his mind? One might argue, well what if we're tired from studying? Perhaps we aren't motivated to study something we're not interested in. Have you ever read a book and just couldn't put it down? The article brought up an interesting point on fatigue, but I don't think that's the case for brain mentality. I could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree with "C." I was also wondering about the men's perspective was because this is an article almost completely focused on women.
ReplyDeleteThe quote "The true rate of advance in medicine is not to be rested by the work of single men, but by the practical capacity of the mass" is one that basically says that advances are only significant if they can help a large amount of people, not just an individual. Earlier readings, like the one mentioning the "medical gaze" where the physician was supposed to examine the symptoms solely and distance themselves from the individual patient would probably agree with this view. But people who view disease as an individual affair, like the writer of the "normal vs. pathological" essay we read, might argue that there can never truly be a cure for the "masses" because diseases affect people in different and individual ways and need to be treated as such.
ReplyDelete@Hannah: In his book, It is true that Mitchell says that women are unable to feed their children and not healthy is due to the hours they put with hard work and school work. His reason behind it is that young children are growing up, having a major changing in organic and biochemistry and becoming sensitive. Therefore, at this age, young children need more time to relax, exercise so the brain can be fully develop.
ReplyDelete@C, actually, Mitchell's book WEAR AND TEAR does diagnose the problem for both men and women. But his explanations for women's exhaustion is not the same as his for men. In fact, he blames women for male exhaustion by arguing that the weakness is passed from mother to male child!
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a strong link between fatigue and disease. It seems today fatigue is more commonly thought about and discussed in terms of stress. Stress is one of the major causes of fatigue and is closely tied to illnesses. Typically stress is not the direct cause of the disease rather makes an individual more susceptible to disease. For example, both mental and physical stress can decrease the function of the immune system. It would be interesting to discuss Mitchell's ideas in terms of stress.
ReplyDeleteI think the quote about the rate of medicine advancement makes a lot of sense. One person's findings may seem small compared to another person's, however, when you combine the research you get the result of one big study that has groundbreaking outcomes.
ReplyDeleteI find this text interesting because I have never heard of anything like this. In fact, I have always heard about how American education system needs restructuring in a much stricter fashion. I do not agree with this article simple because at a young age I feel like kids need the most structure because they are so sporadic.
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