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22
Significant People Enduring Mental Illness in Psychology History:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ELLEN WEST
Artwork by: Ale Caballero
By: Katja Stojic
“Life is hanging on me like a cloud.”
Exploring Mental Health
Women have always been on the
side-lines of history, leaving men to
make decisions for them. They did
not have many ways of expressing
themselves and were far from obtaining
an independent living status. The only
thing a woman could control was her
body. Hence the passage “A hysterical
woman responds theatrically, with her
own body, which is her only stage, upon
which she can perform publicly” (Duda
and Pusch, 1995). Although they’ve been
around for centuries, eating disorders
have widely spread in the last few
decades, hidden behind the forced smiles
and layers of clothing.
“Something inside of me resists gaining
weight. It resists getting healthier; having
round, red cheeks, becoming a simple,
bold woman, which would actually suit
my nature… it is driving me desperate
so that I cannot help myself with all the
big words. I am fighting against secret
forces stronger than me. I cannot unite
and grab them” (Duda and Pusch, 1995).
Ellen West wrote this four months before
she decided to end her life. She was
thirty-three at the time. Her life was filled
with fear and what she dreaded most was
fear itself. Food was always on her mind;
either she ate nothing or she stuffed
herself with anything she could find. She
could only eat by herself, as family meals
made her feel hopeless and empty. Her
therapist said she was trying to fulfil two
needs: hunger and love. The first was
satisfied, the second was not.
Ellen West lived in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, a time when all
that mattered in a woman was how she
looked. She was a patient of Dr. Ludwig
Binswanger, and suffered from anorexia
nervosa, possibly in addition to other
mental illnesses. Her name is most
famously associated with existential
analysis because the treatment started to
emerge during this time. She described
her struggle with food in her diaries
which she kept for many years.
Even as a child she was intentionally
refusing sweets and was very
strongminded. Her father was wellcontrolled
and stiff but secretly sensitive
and suffering from night depressions and
fears. Ellen supposedly loved him very
much. Her mother was gentle and