Price, John. “Dorothy Wordsworth’s Mental Illness.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 91 (July 1998): 390–93.
“During the early months of 1835 DW had a severe and prolonged attack of abdominal pain and sickness accompanied by considerable emaciation. During this time she may well have consumed brandy as a ‘stimulant’. She appears to have become briefly confused and clouded. She was thereafter able to walk very little without support. On recovery from the acute symptoms, her memory for recent events became permanently grossly impaired. ¶ Over the last twenty years of her life (1835–1855), there seems to have been virtually no indication of deterioration and not much of improvement. Her life during this time, when compared with her premorbid level of functioning, emerges from the record as largely unproductive. Some functions remained unimpaired. She had become inert, apathetic and lacking in initiative. Some emotional reactivity was preserved.”
Dorothy Wordsworth 