Waylaid on the Road to Riches

Prairie Madness!!

Prairie madness is yet another one of those diseases which seemed to have disappeared with the end of the nineteenth century, like brain fever, catarrh, and dyspepsia. Its first cousin is neurasthenia, the psychosomatic disease which afflicted many ladies of leisure a little over one hundred years ago.

Basically, prairie madness and neurasthenia occurred when women literally became bored to death. Having nothing to do for great stretches of time, women became sluggish and unmotivated, and the brilliant doctors of the day prescribed wonderful treatments like staying in bed for three months at a time, opium laced tonics, and removal from all intellectual excitement. In retrospect, it doesn't sound like such a bad deal, does it?

For a wonderful description of prairie madness in action, take a look at Laura Ingalls Wilder's These Happy Golden Years, in which Laura (is it a coincidence that Waylaid's heroine has the same name? I think not) is sent to live with crazy Mrs. Brewster, who sits in a chair all day and sulks, and by night stalks around the house with a butcher knife. Fun!