CHAPTER III

TYPES OF HOUSEWIFE PREDISPOSED TO NERVOUSNESS


There are three main factors in the production of the nervousness of the
housewife, and they weave and interweave in a very complex way to
produce a variety of results. All the things of life, no matter how
simple in appearance, are a complex combination of action and reaction.
Our housewife's symptoms are no exception, whether they are mainly
pains, aches, and fatigue, or the deeply motivated doubt or feeling of
unreality.

The nature of the housewife, the conditions of her life, and her
relations to her husband are these three factors. All enter into each
case, though in some only one may be emphasized as of importance. There
are cases where the nature of the woman is mainly the essential cause,
others where it is the conditions of her life, and still others where
the husband stands out as the source of her symptoms.

We are now to consider the nature of the housewife as our first factor.
We may preamble this by saying that a woman essentially normal in one
relationship in life may be abnormal in some other, may be the
traditional square peg in the round hole. Moreover, we are to insist on
the essential and increasing individuality of women, which is to a large
extent a recent phenomenon. The cynical commonplace is "All women are
alike"--and then follows the specific accusation--"in fickleness", "in