The Changing Face of "Mental Illness" in Women: Historical, Medical and Artistic Approaches

In this seminar we want to take a look at women's lives beginning in the past century to the present and the many changes which occurred in conceptualizing and understanding mental illness. The female reproductive system has been linked to mental illness in women for centuries. The womb was believed to be the source of anxiety and depression, leading women to become 'hysterical'. But what does 'hysteria' really mean, and how have historical and cultural attitudes towards women framed the study of women's mental health? How have the expectations of and demands on women and their role in society changed from the 19th to the 20th century? How have advances in health care and changing economic conditions influenced women's health? The course will introduce students to historical and current concepts of mental illness in women. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMS), eating disorders, the hysterias and functional neurologic disorders and infertility and postpartum depression will be analyzed through a historical bio-psycho-social lens. Historical reading will include primary sources, such as women's diaries and physicians' casebooks and medical case records, as well as secondary sources such as advice books, and 19th- and 20th-century medical texts. Guest speakers from the art history and literature departments will stimulate dialogue regarding literary and artistic images and the social and cultural contexts of these disorders. Importantly, we will examine the changing face of "mental illness in women" in art, literature and medicine--the evolution of diversity in represented voices and the current methods of researching and treating the interface between the female reproductive cycle and psychiatric illness in diverse populations of women. Embedded within each lecture will be break-out sessions with opportunities for students to ask questions and to discuss a topic in greater depth. Students will have the opportunity to complete their own interdisciplinary projects for the course. Prior projects have included not only power point presentations of diverse topics, but also short films and stories, and future women's mental health research project proposals.