8/24/2023 0 Comments Charles darwin![]() For example, after a discussion of a matter of no great significance with the vicar of Downe, Darwin returned in the night to the vicar’s home to check that the wrong impression had not been created. He was often obsessed with the idea that he might have been misunderstood and this prevented him from sleeping. In his 2002 OCD book, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Practical, Tried-and-tested Strategies to overcome OCD, Fred Toates wrote, “Darwin craved reassurance from others, being ‘pathologically’ modest and self-critical with a quite overbearing conscience, He felt himself to be ugly, and the recognition of even a modest doe of vanity in himself was a course of distress”. Such a reassurance mantra could indeed be part of an OCD compulsion.ĭuring the Darwin family’s 1868 holiday in her Isle of Wight cottage, Julia Margaret Cameron took portraits showing the bushy beard Darwin grew between 18 The bad thoughts during the night were more persistent than those in the day, because at night he was not distracted from them by activity, which many of us reading this will know such avoidance in the daytime can be a distraction from the thoughts of OCD.ĭarwin also craved reassurance from others and was self-critical and also felt himself to be ugly and would repeat himself hundreds of times the mantra ‘I have worked as hard as I could, and no man can do more than this’. The thoughts, as he himself put it, were of ‘horrid spectacle’ including thoughts that his children would inherit his kind of illness and to stop them he would try ‘closing his eyes firmly’, but they would not go away, which could potentially be considered OCD thoughts.ĭarwin worried that he or his children had inherited a weak constitution from his mother’s side of the family. In a letter to a friend he wrote, ‘I could not sleep and whatever I did in the day haunted me at night with vivid and most wearing repetition’. ![]() In recent years, researchers have speculated that he might have been suffering from various ailments, including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.Īccording to Janet Browne, author of a biography about Darwin, he was profoundly affected by the way his mother died, quickly and inexplicably, which of course could have had an effect on Darwin, and played a part in potential OCD and anxiety later in life.ĭarwin wrote about various obsessional thoughts and how he could not get away from them. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. Meander down Darwin’s ‘thinking path', stroll past bountiful vegetable patches and enjoy fragrant flower beds.Three quarter length studio photo showing Darwin’s characteristic large forehead and bushy eyebrows with deep set eyes, pug nose and mouth set in a determined look.Ĭharles Darwin (1809–1882), born in Shrewsbury, was the eminent scientist, naturalist, geologist and biologist best known for his contributions to the science of evolution.Watch the bees hard at work in their special observation hive.Explore Darwin’s story with the multimedia guide narrated by Sir David Attenborough.There’s plenty for everyone to enjoy, with a family trail, Victorian clothes to try on and lots of space to play on the lawn outside.īook your tickets now for the lowest price and enjoy a great day out at one of Kent’s best historic attractions. The house is surrounded by beautiful gardens that acted as Darwin’s ‘living laboratory’ - see recreated experiments and discover how his observations helped him develop his groundbreaking theories. Step into the very rooms where Charles Darwin worked and lived, including the study where he wrote On the Origin of Species, and trace his story with a fascinating exhibition about his life and work. With a unique place in the history of science and evolution, Down House was Charles Darwin’s family home – and today it is a site of outstanding international significance. History-making days out from £16 per adult
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