Darwin and the diagnosis of panic disorder and agoraphobia
According to Barloon and Noyes as a young man, Darwin had "episodes of abdominal distress, especially in stressful situations". In addition, Barloon and Noyes stated that like many people with panic disorder, he had a "premorbid vulnerability" which in his youth was referred to as "sensitivity to stress of criticism in his youth." According to the American Psychology Association, panic disorder usually appears in the teens or in early adulthoood and there does seem to be association with potentially stressful life transitions. It should be also noted that panic disorder has been noticed in clinical setting that the histories of panic disorder patients often include some type of separation from a person who is emotionally important to them. This may be significant as Darwin's mother died at the age of eight and he then boarded at Shrewsbury Grammar School. On the other hand, it has been said that Darwin had a happy childhood overall and was encouraged by his siblings. Bowlby noted that separation anxiety may help cause the develpment panic disorder in adulthood. Also, in regards to the cause of panic disorder it is currently thought to be psychobiological in origin. For example, historically panic disorder was often triggered in war time. It is well known that Darwin was not the aggressive/assertive type and that Huxley was "Darwin's bulldog". This may related to a study by Chambless and Mason saying that regardless of gender, the less masculine in trait a person afflicted with panic disorder is, the more likely they are to use avoidance (social withdrawal) as a coping mechanism . Individuals who have a more masculine traits often turn to external coping strategies (for example, alcohol). Dr. Bean wrote that while Darwin had great confidence, at the same time he was: neurotic, became nervous when his routine was altered, and was upset by a holiday, trip, or unexpected visitor. Barloon and Noyes cite Darwin remarking "we [Darwin and his Emma] have up all parties, for they agree with neither of us".
It is important to note that one of the reasons given by authors Barloon and Noye for their diagnosis panic disorder and agoraphobia was that "variable intensity of symptoms and chronic, prolonged course without physical deterioration also indicate that his illness was psychiatric." However, Ralph Colp Jr., an American physician and psychiatrist, who studied the matter of Darwin's sickness for 18 years and authored the book To Be an Invalid: The Illness of Charles Darwin doesn't believe in a diagnosis of agoraphobia, because, despite that fact that Darwin loathed meetings, when Darwin was a member of the Council of the Royal Society from 1855-1856, he dutifuly attended meetings on 16 occasions, and was away from home about 2,000 days between 1842 and his death in 1882. At the same time, Barloon and Noyes state that only infrequently did Darwin leave home and usually accompanied by his wife. Barloon and Noyes then cite a letter declining a invitation and Darwin saying "I have long found it impossible to visit anywhere; the novelty and excitement would annhilate me". Perhaps, the best solution to Colp and Barloon and Noyes differing analysis is that Darwin merely became less socially active. However, perhaps Darwin's possible social withdrawal was due to his sickness being physically debilitating.
Darwin, Darwin's relationship with his father, and the psychoanalysis diagnosis
Psychoanalyst Edward J. Rempf believed that Darwin's "complete submission" to a tyrannical father prevented Darwin from expressing anger towards his father and then subsequently toward others. Also, Dr. Rempf believed that Darwin's illness was "an expression of repressed anger towards his father".
Darwin wrote in his autobiography regarding his father:
"... [he] was a little unjust to me when I was young, but afterwards I am thankful to think that I became a prime favourite with him."
An example of one of Darwin's fathers more strict comments to Darwin was: "... you care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and your family!"
Andrew J. Bradbury in his work on Darwin quotes J. Huxley and H.B.D. Kettlew as saying the following:
"The predisposing cause of any psychoneurosis which Charles Darwin displayed seems to have been the conflict and emotional tension springing from his ambivalent relations with his father ... whom he both revered and subconsciously resented."
Bradbury also cites John Chancellor analysis of Darwin:
"... [Darwin's] obsessive desire to work and achieve something was prompted by hatred and resentment of his father, who had called him an idler and good-for-nothing during his youth."
Overall, perhaps Darwin's relationship to his father wasn't horrendous as can be seen in Darwin's own words because he did become a prime favorite with him and it was fairly common for Victorian fathers to be more authoritarian. Also, while Darwin's father may have had some harsh things to say about Darwin perhaps this was more than balanced out by constructive things Darwin's father did and said for him which is common in many father and son relationships and this helps explains why Darwin is said to revere his father. And as noted earlier Darwin is said to have had a happy childhod so his father obviously did a few things right. Also, the tendency in medicine and psychology to "blame things on your father/mother" is certainly controversial and there is certainly nothing wrong with honoring your father and mother.
English psychiatrist Dr Rankine Good believed Darwin's health symptoms with feelings of resentment towards a tyrannical father and stated, "Thus, if Darwin did not slay his father in the flesh, then he certainly slew the Heavenly Father in the realm of natural history." Good believed Darwin, like Oedipus, suffered greatly for his "unconscious patricide" and that it accounted for "almost forty years of severe and crippling neurotic suffering."
Sir Gavin de Beer, obviously a great fan of Darwin, embraced a physical causation view of Darwin's illness and took great offense to Dr. Good's psychoanalysis of Darwin. Carolyn Douglas in her paper on Darwin, points out that De Beer in his biography of Darwin saw Dr. Good's analysis of Darwin as a accusation of weakness. According to Ms. Douglas, De Beer points out how MANLY Darwin was by pointing out that Darwin braved the seas for 5 years, "roughed it" in the wilderness, and caught venemous snakes.
Of course, as in all forensic diagnosis, a weakness of the Oedipal complex hypothesis is there is no way of definitively empirically test it validity because Charles Darwin is no longer available for a personal analysis. Lastly, Freudian ideas in regards to psychology such as the Oedipal complex and psychoanalysis are controversial ideas in regards to their usefulness.
Psychoanalyst Dr. Rankine Good and Edward J. Rempf described Darwin's father as tyrannical. This may be important because Bowlby suggested, due to clinical observation, that agoraphobic patients frequently describe parents as dominant, controlling, critical, frightening, rejecting, or overprotective (However, not every element of his observations were subsequently confirmed in studies). Several authors found that parents of agoraphobic and panic patients often provided less emotional warmth and tend to be more rejecting.
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