The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nervous Housewife, by Abraham Myerson

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Title: The Nervous Housewife

Author: Abraham Myerson

Release Date: November 28, 2004 [EBook #14196]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE NERVOUS HOUSEWIFE

BY

ABRAHAM MYERSON, M.D.

BOSTON

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY

1920

Published November, 1920

Norwood Press

Set up and electrotyped by J.S. Cushing Co.

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTORY 1
II THE NATURE OF "NERVOUSNESS" 17
III TYPES OF HOUSEWIFE PREDISPOSED TO NERVOUSNESS 46
IV THE HOUSEWORK AND THE HOME AS FACTORS IN THE NEUROSIS 74
V REACTION TO THE DISAGREEABLE 91
VI POVERTY AND ITS PSYCHICAL RESULTS 116
VII THE HOUSEWIFE AND HER HUSBAND 126
VIII THE HOUSEWIFE AND HER HOUSEHOLD CONFLICTS 141
IX THE SYMPTOMS AS WEAPONS AGAINST THE HUSBAND 160
X HISTORIES OF SOME SEVERE CASES 168
XI OTHER TYPICAL CASES 199
XII TREATMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL CASES 231
XIII THE FUTURE OF WOMAN, THE HOME, AND MARRIAGE 244
INDEX 269

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

How old is the problem of the Nervous Housewife?

Did the semi-mythical Cave Man (who is perhaps only a pseudo-scientific
creation) on his return from a prehistoric hunt find his leafy spouse
all in tears over her staglocythic house-cleaning, or the conduct of the
youngest cave child? Did she complain of her back, did she have a
headache every time they disagreed, did she fuss and fret until he lost
his patience and dashed madly out