She constantly feels scolded by him, like a small child would feel with a parent. It is really disturbing because he treats her more like he would a child than a wife. This type of treatment causes her to feel bad about her condition; therefore, she feels the need to repress her feelings and emotions so as not to upset John any further. This repression adds a great deal to her anxiety over all, and the reader can see that as the story progresses.
Because of the fact that the speaker is repressing all of her feelings and problems, she is unable to express herself in a healthy way. This leads to the next underlying theme of the importance of self-expression. Think about the activities that take place in a mental institution. Sure, there is a lot of medicine being prescribed, and numerous treatments; however, it is often seen that the use of art therapy or writing therapy is very beneficial to patients with anxiety and depression disorders (such as postpartum depression/OCD). The speaker has been made to feel as if she should not write or express her feelings in this way. Her husband believes that her writing is unhealthy, and that she should not give in to her "foolish fancies ". On page 464, she even states, "Sometimes I think that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me. " She clearly has numerous emotions building up inside and needs some way to get them out. Since she is a writer, being able to write would actually be the best therapy for her. However, her "doctor " of a husband refrains her from doing so. When she explains her imagination as a child on page 465, it is evident that she is naturally a very creative and self-expressive individual. By keeping her from expressing herself through her writing, her husband and her family members are actual delaying her well-being. She has to hide her writing activity, and this causes her to become more paranoid and anxious in general.
