Depression/Melancholy/Nervous breakdown during WWI

[Janet_W.]

I wouldn't worry about it too much!

I see it as one of those spur-of-the-moment impulses that suddenly possessed Olga. Yes, the strain of working in the hospital probably had something to do with it . . . along with the fact that she had been thwarted in her love for one man, then had fallen in love with another special someone, perhaps just as unattainable. Also, if I recall correctly, she and her sisters had just spoken with Dmitri Malama. I would want to look at the context again, but when I did so about a year ago (and yes, this has been covered in a previous thread) I interpreted it as one of those giddy moments that we all have at that age--and older! --when we become rather high-spirited and even a bit destructive. Think back to some of your own escapdes. I was brought up to not disturb things, and have been very consistant in this credo.  Except   for a few slips, i.e., when a former friend of mine who was insufferable about her noxious (in my view) political candidate pushed me just a bit too far, and . . . another friend and I papered her car with bumper stickers proclaiming the opposing candidate. (There, I've confessed it . . . all these years later!)

Anyway, my point being that very few of us are perfectly behaved 24/7, plus I think this particular episode of Olga's wasn't anything more than some very understandable acting-out.

[Marialana]

I agree with Janet as well. I know that personally I've had a few moments that would be considered pretty crazy & impulsive, kind of like the bumper-sticker incident you mentioned (most excellent story, by the way!)
Putting myself in Olga's shoes, I can see how she might have a burst of frustration and being fed up with things, and just take an impulsive run at a window or two. Once it's over, it's out of your system and things go back to whatever is considered "normal" again. I think that for some people it's what keeps them from losing it completely!

[Romanov_fan]

I think it was just a moment where she might not have behaved exactly as a grand duchess should, but more as a normal person would. She was effected by being a nurse, and having to deal with many brutal things that she had not had to deal with before. I agree with those who say that she was just having a moment of acting out,either because of the pressure or because she was just being childish for a while.Or it could be both. Her sisters followed her example, but I doubt they did that for any other reason than just following her example. It does seem rather strange for Olga to be smashing windows, but everyone has a way they act out.  

[matushka]

Janet said very well! Having destructive fun after big stress is common thing. Even the children after scool, remember these years. I was a quite calm person, but after 7 or 8 hours at scoll, when I was back home I behave myself totally sauvage, organising blooding battles with my brother and sister...

[clockworkgirl21]

do you think olga would have gotten into trouble for it? maybe nikolai would have let it pass knowing olga was very stressed out from her nursing do you think anastasia got into trouble?

sorry for my horrible typing with no capital letters or anything and no commas or periods

my keyboard is screwed up  

[Sarushka]

Does anyone know how long she was a nurse at the lazaret? I read in Virginia Cowles's book that she worked as a nurse for only 1 month. I'd had the impression it was much longer than that, but I've never seen any concrete dates.

When did Alix & the girls get their nursing certificates? War broke out in August of 1914, and by September of 1915, Maria writes that Olga & her sisters are breaking windows in the palace with their umbrellas. Then in November, Alix records that Olga is unwell. Clearly, the stress was mounting by the fall of 1915...

Any clues?

[Romanov_fan]

She was really too sensitive to handle the realities of what being a war nurse was, and it wasn't any easy job by any means. It wasn't right for her. I don't know how long it lasted, but how ever long it lasted it was most likely too long. It is understadable, for not everyone is cut out for everything. This was something not right for Olga. I think what happened to her in regard to this matter could be regarded as a break down, and I am sure it did not widely get out. I think it was a difficult time for her, with the war, and doing something she was not suited to. She was always very thoughtful.

[Yoyo22]

You can check this thread for a discussion on the state of ON's mental health during the war and revolution.


http://hydrogen.pallasweb.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=olga;action=display;num=1102889984

Yoyo

[matushka]

Others mentions about Olga's illness and about arsenic, from Chebotareva's diary for 1915:
"19 of october, they came back... They got a cold. Olga has caught, her nerves are strongly destroyed (silno rashatalis), she became very thin, is white. She help not for doing pansements, she can not see any wound, the operation room. It is terrible for her, she is trying, can not, is nervous, but can not fight herself... How sad it is to see the poor Girl, she is so sad, so nervous! People say, she is too tired.
24 of october: Poor ON is totally ill, she has a strong anemy, she is liying for a week, but is allowed to come to the lazaret 30 minutes in the day to get arsenic.
Sorry for the bad translation

[Janet_W.]

Thank you, Matushka, your translation is very understandable, and we thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do so!    Chebotareva's diary is a veritable goldmine of information, and it is wonderful to have someone here on the AP that can translate for those of us who do not know Russian.

[Romanov_fan]

It is nice that you posted that information from that diary. It illiminates what happened with Olga, and helps us to understand what went on better. War work in the wards simply did not suit her temprement, it was not the thing for her. That information illustrates that. Instead of drawing our own conclusions, we have another source of information, one that is valid and accurate.  

[Romanov_fan]

I don't know if Olga would have got into trouble, it depends on how understanding her father was. As for Anastasia, she was always one to do things like that, things she shouldn't do, although she would have done it in a more playful way. I don't believe this is a incident mentioned in any Romanov books, although it should be. And it should be considered and studied by someone more qualified than I to give a opinion on these things.

[Sarushka]

If this has been discussed before -- whoops! -- I'm just doing a quick skim before work, and this occurred to me:

There's no evidence that Olga was chronically depressed, is there? Before the war, I mean. It seems to me that this was triggered specifically by the circumstances she found herself in beginning in 1914-15. I wonder if her depression would have continued, had she not been killed. Was she the sort of girl who could have bounced back, so to speak, if her family's circumstances improved?

[Romanov_fan]

No, before the war, there is no evidence that Olga was ever depressed. It seems she was begining in 1914/15, it was almost a breakdown of sorts. Her depression was directly the result of her war work, no more or less. I think she was not techinally depressed after this, but that she wasn't maybe full of sunshine either. It was a hrad time to be positive. By 1917, in their imprisonment, she was depressed most likely. Anyone who was thoughtful at the time would have been, Olga was not alone in that. If circumstances had not led to their deaths, she may or may not have been depressed. Life might have been hard after the revolution for her, and this might have caused her to be depressed. I do not believe that she was ever clinically depressed, but she wasn't happy sometimes either. I would define her difficulties with war work as being more of a breakdown than anything else.

[Yoyo22]

Thank you, Matushka, your translation is very understandable, and we thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do so!    Chebotareva's diary is a veritable goldmine of information, and it is wonderful to have someone here on the AP that can translate for those of us who do not know Russian.

Matushka,
I second Janet. A lot of people on this board would appreciate longer, translated excerpts of Chebotareva's diaries. Would it be possible for you to post more of them? I would just love to dig into that goldmine.

Thanks
Yoyo