16. Charles Darwin’s Undisclosed Illness Prohibited him from Spending Time with his Children
Charles Darwin suffered a debilitating illness for most of his adult life with varied and bizarre symptoms. The nature of his illness has been the subject of much academic debate and more than 40 different diagnoses have been proposed at various times. The illness was such that Darwin would be incapacitated for days, or even weeks at a time. He had psychological symptoms, waking at night with intense, irrational fear and episodes of hysterical crying. He continued to have periods of severe lethargy, with times when he could only lie on a sofa and do nothing.
Despite this, he produced an enormous and impressive volume of work, writing 19 books, numerous papers, and thousands of letters, many of which are preserved today. After suffering his first intense episode of agoraphobia around age thirty, Darwin’s life continued to be plagued by this traumatizing experience, which caused him physical discomfort every time he was in public: constant trembling, nausea, hysterical crying, and visual hallucinations. His condition got so severe at one point that he couldn’t even be around his own children.