After months of overwhelming stress and sleepless nights, she was diagnosed with neurasthenia, a condition marked by persistent fatigue, headaches, and irritability.

The historian found references to neurasthenias in several Victorian medical journals, reflecting a period when nervous disorders were frequently diagnosed.

As a neurastheniac, she often found city noise overwhelming and sought quiet countryside retreats.

In the 19th century, many doctors labeled anxious, exhausted patients as neurastheniacs, a diagnosis that reflected the era's understanding of mental fatigue.