Hidden behind the dainty powder and paint of the bureaucrats, concealed away in the revived Gothic architecture and drowned out by the blaring brass bands were the mentally vulnerable citizens of the Victorian Era. The mentally ill had few options for treatment and were either forced to attempt to conform to society’s unreachable principles, or placed in underprivileged asylums. The cognizance of mentally ill patients, particularly dissociative identity disorder, was misunderstood, mistreated, and inquired brief conversation amongst Victorian physicians. Robert Louis Stevenson started the discussion of dissociative identity disorder with his ground-breaking novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Steven’s novel signifies a medical breakthrough of the dissociative mind and its misfortunates during the provocative years of late-Victorian England.
As time passes, man acquires a better understanding of its own dual nature through the advancement of medical science and psychology. However in 1886, Stevenson was far beyond his years in his depiction of man’s dual nature in his story …show more content…
Professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, MD, Gary Sachs states, “The average dissociative patient will be depressed more often than manic; however, not all patients who are diagnosed with some sort of mental disassociation are affected with such vast changes in personality” (Dissociative Identity Disorder). In the case of Jekyll the personality changes were extreme, yet often in reality the changes are incognito and only are discovered until the disease progresses out of control. From the concluding chapter, it can be inferred that Jekyll has been struggling with his dual nature for years, and that his use of this mysterious serum was his last
As time passes, man acquires a better understanding of its own dual nature through the advancement of medical science and psychology. However in 1886, Stevenson was far beyond his years in his depiction of man’s dual nature in his story …show more content…
Professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, MD, Gary Sachs states, “The average dissociative patient will be depressed more often than manic; however, not all patients who are diagnosed with some sort of mental disassociation are affected with such vast changes in personality” (Dissociative Identity Disorder). In the case of Jekyll the personality changes were extreme, yet often in reality the changes are incognito and only are discovered until the disease progresses out of control. From the concluding chapter, it can be inferred that Jekyll has been struggling with his dual nature for years, and that his use of this mysterious serum was his last