2. Charles Darwin’s world voyages in the name of scientific research were all the more remarkable given that he suffered from extreme anxiety and agoraphobia
The naturalist Charles Darwin famously sailed around the world in the name of scientific research. His observations in South America, including on the Galapagos Islands, helped shape his theory of evolution. Remarkably, such voyages were undertaken despite the fact that Darwin suffered from crippling, sometimes debilitating, anxiety. The Englishman may also have suffered from agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces – making his travels across the oceans even more noteworthy.
Darwin was a prolific diarist. This habit not only gives us an insight into his scientific mind, but it also shows the worries he had. From the age of around 30, he started to worry about going out of the house on his own. He became increasingly terrified of crowds and would need the support of his friends, or above all his wife, in order to leave the house. Traveling to central London to present his work was a particular worry for him. But still, while he may have shown classic symptoms of agoraphobia, Darwin usually overcame them.
Alongside his fear of crowds and open spaces, Darwin also suffered from extreme anxiety. He was constantly worried that his work wasn’t good enough. Even with the publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin feared he would be found out as a fraud. Then 50-years-old, he famously wrote to his fellow scientist Robert Hooker: “You ask about my book & all I can say is that I am ready to commit suicide. I thought it was decently written, but find so much wants rewriting…I begin to think that anyone who publishes a book is a fool.” Of course, Darwin’s worries were ill-founded. Now, the book is regarded as one of the most important scientific works of all time, and Darwin himself as one of the most important scientists who ever lived.