History of Medicine Charlotte Perkins Gilman writing at her desk, ca. 1916-1922 Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, author and physician, 1906 Charlotte's doctor, nerve specialist Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, had built an eminent medical career working with soldiers injured during the Civil War. He then focused on the treatment of women with nervous exhaustion, devising a “rest cure” in which the patient was not allowed to read, write, feed herself, or talk to others. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” Charlotte rejected Mitchell’s prescription to give up all her intellectual pursuits, and instead picked up her pen and wrote. First published in 1892, her story, about a young woman driven mad by the rest cure, has been reprinted many times and is now considered a classic of feminist literature.   04 August 2011