The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" exhibits symptoms of severe depression, hysteria, and schizophrenia. The treatment of rest, isolation, and increased food consumption was a common prescription in the late nineteenth century for thousands of patients. Publication of "The Yellow Wallpaper" called attention to critical issues associated with the diagnosis of mental illness and therapies for its treatment, resulting in important modifications to both.

To learn more about these and other key concepts, please consult the Glossary of Key Concepts.