Monitor on Psychology - January 2012 - (Page 34)

capsule tIme Aspects of both the Rest and West Cures survive in modern culture. Women with difficult pregnancies are still put on bed rest, for instance, while over-stressed business executives of both sexes travel to pristine natural destinations in search of relaxation and self-discovery. miraculously,” according to his friend Walt Whitman. Mitchell, a self-diagnosed neurasthenic, enjoyed the West Cure himself. He made camping and fishing expeditions in the Western United States and Canada nearly every year. He saw these trips as a necessary respite from his intellectual pursuits and as a means of preventing nervous breakdowns. Because so many prominent American men experienced the West Cure, the therapy had a major impact on the nation’s culture, particularly its literature and politics. Walt Whitman documented his 1879 journey out West in “Specimen Days” (1882), while novelist Owen Wister channeled his West Cure experiences in Wyoming into the first American Western, “The Virginian” (1902). This successful novel went through 16 printings in the year it was published, and spawned an immensely popular genre of fiction and films that continues to be influential today. The West Cure also influenced American politics via U.S. President and recovered neurasthenic Theodore Roosevelt. In the 1880s, Roosevelt visited the Dakotas several times to treat his asthma and neurasthenic symptoms (Roosevelt was friends with Owen Wister, Mitchell’s patient and close friend). He also hoped to develop a more masculine appearance. Before heading West, Roosevelt’s effeminate looks and high voice 34 provoked comparisons to Oscar Wilde; afterward, he became known for his strenuous brand of masculinity. Roosevelt’s motto, “speak softly and carry a big stick,” sums up the ethos of many Westerns, in which stoic men of action engage in constant battles with nature, Indians and rogue cowboys. Like many men of his generation, Roosevelt felt that masculinity was forged by conflict, an attitude that carried over into his imperialist foreign policy. The dramatic difference between the Rest and West Cures suggests their prescriptive nature. Both cures existed to reinforce “proper” sexual behavior, serving to masculinize effeminate (and possibly homosexual) men and discourage women from entering the professions. Both were supported by the authority of science in an era that emphasized the biological differences between men and women. Neurasthenia fell out of favor as a diagnosis in the United States following World War I. Postwar American doctors increasingly saw neurasthenia as an umbrella term that could apply to many mental and physical ills. Mitchell’s cures, meanwhile, were gradually supplanted by various forms of psychoanalysis, particularly Freudian talk therapy. Yet aspects of both the Rest and West Cures survive in modern culture and medical practice. Women with difficult pregnancies are still put on bed rest, for instance, while over-stressed business executives of both sexes travel to pristine natural destinations in search of relaxation and self-discovery, sometimes combined with rigorous physical activities, such as biking or mountaineering. Perhaps we are not so different from the nervous rough riders of Roosevelt’s generation after all. n Anne Stiles, PhD, is assistant professor of English at St. Louis University. Katharine S. Milar, PhD, of Earlham College is historical editor for “Time Capsule.” Further reading • George Beard, American Nervousness (new York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1881). • Cheryl Leibold, “Thomas eakins in the Badlands,” Archives of American Art Journal 28 (1988): 2–15. • Tom Lutz, American Nervousness, 1903: An Anecdotal History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991). • Silas Weir Mitchell, Wear and Tear: Or Hints for the Overworked (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1871). • Barbara Will, “The nervous origins of the American Western,” American Literature 70 (1998): 293–316. M o n i t o r o n p s y c h o l o g y • J a n u a ry 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - January 2012

Monitor on Psychology - January 2012
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
Contents
From the CEO
Apa’s Statement on the Dsm-5 Development Process
Girl Scouts Badge Promotes Positive Psychology
Early Investments Pay Off for Poor Children, Study Finds
Apa Meets With Chinese Psychological Society to Further Interaction and Exchange
Unique Opportunity for Psychologists to Travel to Cuba
In Brief
Government Relations Update
On Your Behalf
Psychology’s Growing Library of Podcasts
Standing Up for Psychology
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Questionnaire
Science Watch
Beyond Psychotherapy
Perspective on Practice
Yes, Recovery Is Possible
Inequity to Equity
Making E-Learning Work
New Standards for High School Psychology
A Trailblazer Moves On
Psychologist Profile
Plan Now for Psychology’s Regional Meetings
New Journal Editors
Apa News
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - January 2012