Lindsley Mental Health Clinic
Maya N. Lindsley M.D.
Re: Patient Jane
March 30, 2021
Dear John,
Our team of mental health specialists have diligently analyzed the behaviors of your wife and we
have figured out the diagnosis for her condition. She suffers from a severe case of clinical
depression, schizophrenia, as well as psychosis.
Jane’s depression is fueled by her loneliness and feelings of isolation. Loneliness can cause
depression for many people; this was the case for Jane. She has to use great “effort...to dress and
entertain, and order things,” (2). She is struggling with the motivation to continue on with her
life activities. She has an obvious lack of motivation which we can also connect with depression.
In addition to that, she feels as though she has no one to help her through her “nervous troubles”
(2) that she describes to be “dreadfully depressing” (2). She feels obligated to bottle up her
emotions because she feels as though they are not valid. This feeling seems to be rooted in the
negligence that her husband has for her suffering. Her own husband--a doctor--feels as though
“there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (2). He is satisfied that she has no physical
injuries, but neglects the fact that she is suffering mentally. She describes herself as a
“comparative burden” (2) to her husband. She does not want to bring up her problems to her
husband in order to prevent annoying/burdening him. She feels isolated with her problems and it
causes her silent misery. She has no one to lean on for support which further aggravates her
depression as she battles it alone with no guidance.
Jane also appears to be struggling with schizophrenia. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is
having hallucinations. We notice Jane having hallucinations when she speaks about the wallpaper
in her room. She says the “pattern does move” (7). She starts to hallucinate that the wallpaper is
moving. She then hallucinates a woman in her room who is “always creeping” (8). Another
symptom of schizophrenia is delusions. She says to her husband that she “got out...in spite of the
you and Jane” (10). She felt she “got out” of some kind of situation that she seems to have
created in her mind. She uses the name Jane as if Jane is another person--not herself. This shows
her delusions that she has concocted while in isolation.
We also noticed that Jane appears to have psychosis. Psychosis is known to be a result of
schizophrenia, which we already explained she has. People with psychosis also seem to be out of
touch with reality; we noticed this while observing Jane. The isolation and loneliness that she
feels while she battles with her depression, has caused her to obsess over seemingly unimportant
objects. She explains that “it always makes [her] feel bad [talking about her condition] so [she]
will let it alone and talk about the house” (1). Ignoring her condition causes her to focus her
attention on the house. She specifically had a fascination with the wallpaper and explains that it
“looks [at her] as if it knew what a viscous influence it had” (3). She describes it as if it is living,
as if it could “look.” She obviously has a disconnect with reality. Since she has no one to talk to,
she allows wallpaper to fill that void of her loneliness. She allows herself to get “positively angry
with...it” (3). She is allowing an inanimate thing to drive her crazy because of how disconnected
she is from reality. She believes that the “pattern does move” (7) and that there is a “woman who
shakes [the wallpaper]” (7). She has obsessed with the wallpaper so much that she even starts to
imagine things: that the wallpaper can move and that there is a woman controlling it. She has
even convinced herself that she is sure “John and Jennie are secretly affected by [the
woman/wallpaper]” (8). Her isolation has only worsened her psychosis and caused her to lose
touch with reality.
We recommend that Jane sees a therapist to talk about her problem. The first step of healing is to
address the problem, not to suppress it. We also ask that the family is more supportive; we ask
that they acknowledge that she has a legitimate problem. She should feel support from her
family. Loneliness seems to be the root of her “craziness.” She should also go to work or have
some type of productive task to spend her time and focus. This will help her direct her thoughts
and energy into a task that she can feel accomplished in managing. Having a task for her to do
will also help her to stay more connected with reality and to prevent her from driving herself
crazy with no purpose.
If you have any additional concerns or questions feel free to call us at 1-800-Lindsley-Clinic.
Our team is available to offer any further advice in order to help out Jane so that she can be set
onto a better and more productive path.
Sincerely,
MAYA N. LINDSLEY M.D.
