All Actions Have a Reason:
An Understanding of Postpartum Psychosis in The Book of Margery Kempe Studies have found that postpartum psychosis appears in about one in every five hundred childbearing women a few weeks after they deliver. Postpartum psychosis is much more sever and rare than postpartum depression, someone with this illness may develop hallucinations, delusional beliefs, manic episodes, paranoia, obscured thinking, and have a dramatic change of behavior. In Margery Kempe’s book, The Book of Margery Kempe, the use of hallucinations, manic episodes, and paranoia symptoms used to show how the speaker presents the signs of postpartum psychosis, and how she deals with the illness. Before analyzing Margery Kempe’s actions, we must …show more content…
Her paranoia routes from the central idea that God has forsaken her and no longer believes in her. Her paranoia comes in waves throughout the book that leave her in states of anxiety do to the idea God is punishing her, that she is unworthy, or simple false in her actions this is important to her as her hallucinogenic episodes cause her to believe her world must revolve around God. An example of her fears also relate back to her unstable moods when “she felt grace, her labors were so wonderful that she could hardly fare with them, but ever mourned and sorrowed as though God had forsaken her” (Kempe 13). Another illustration of her paranoid behavior is noticed by her reaction to being pregnant. Margery Kempe keeps no secret in the sense that she has no interest in her children and an inability to bond with them. Most healthy mothers develop a quick positive bond with their child even before birth; however, Kempe connects her children in a negative way. It is known that Kempe had about fourteen children, yet she does not talk about any of them, she does not spend time with the children that survive. A vast amount of her births are related to Kempe becoming ill, however, instead of connecting her illness and pain to her postpartum psychosis, Kempe is under the impression that God is punishing her, “she was so feeble that she might not hold a spoon in her hand”(Kempe101). On the contrary, with the scientific knowledge known today, her illness can be explained as a symptom of postpartum psychosis as most women “usually experience a brief illness” (Sit, Rothschild, Wisner 9). Lastly, Kempe believes god is testing her, to decide if she is worthy, but is also under the impression it may be the devil, adding to her paranoid state. In chapter 33 of The Book of Margery Kempe, Kempe is tested by a priest who is confirms her suspicions that he is controlled
An Understanding of Postpartum Psychosis in The Book of Margery Kempe Studies have found that postpartum psychosis appears in about one in every five hundred childbearing women a few weeks after they deliver. Postpartum psychosis is much more sever and rare than postpartum depression, someone with this illness may develop hallucinations, delusional beliefs, manic episodes, paranoia, obscured thinking, and have a dramatic change of behavior. In Margery Kempe’s book, The Book of Margery Kempe, the use of hallucinations, manic episodes, and paranoia symptoms used to show how the speaker presents the signs of postpartum psychosis, and how she deals with the illness. Before analyzing Margery Kempe’s actions, we must …show more content…
Her paranoia routes from the central idea that God has forsaken her and no longer believes in her. Her paranoia comes in waves throughout the book that leave her in states of anxiety do to the idea God is punishing her, that she is unworthy, or simple false in her actions this is important to her as her hallucinogenic episodes cause her to believe her world must revolve around God. An example of her fears also relate back to her unstable moods when “she felt grace, her labors were so wonderful that she could hardly fare with them, but ever mourned and sorrowed as though God had forsaken her” (Kempe 13). Another illustration of her paranoid behavior is noticed by her reaction to being pregnant. Margery Kempe keeps no secret in the sense that she has no interest in her children and an inability to bond with them. Most healthy mothers develop a quick positive bond with their child even before birth; however, Kempe connects her children in a negative way. It is known that Kempe had about fourteen children, yet she does not talk about any of them, she does not spend time with the children that survive. A vast amount of her births are related to Kempe becoming ill, however, instead of connecting her illness and pain to her postpartum psychosis, Kempe is under the impression that God is punishing her, “she was so feeble that she might not hold a spoon in her hand”(Kempe101). On the contrary, with the scientific knowledge known today, her illness can be explained as a symptom of postpartum psychosis as most women “usually experience a brief illness” (Sit, Rothschild, Wisner 9). Lastly, Kempe believes god is testing her, to decide if she is worthy, but is also under the impression it may be the devil, adding to her paranoid state. In chapter 33 of The Book of Margery Kempe, Kempe is tested by a priest who is confirms her suspicions that he is controlled