On 6 Aug 2009 at 16:49, Allen Esterson wrote: > Incidentally, Freud didn't smoke dope. In the 1880s he recommended > cocaine injections for morphine addiction, and used it on patients with > other medical conditions. I'm not sure how he took it himself. In the > 1890s he applied it through his nose to relieve symptoms of migraine and > depression. But he was never an addict, and gave it up
But not before he caused his friend Fleischl to become addicted, through Freud's boundless enthusiasm for this miraculous substance. What are friends for, after all. And Allen's post gives me the opportunity to cite two of my favourite Freud quotes, both relating to cocaine and to his fiancee, Martha Bernays: The first is this gentlemanly one, from his "Autobiographical Study" (1925): "I may here go back a little and explain how it was the fault of my fiancee that I was not already famous at that youthful age" --Freud complaining how he happened to miss discovering the use of cocaine as a local anesthetic for eye surgery. The second is an amazing love song (1884) of Freud's, apparently to his fiancee, but actually to the drug itself: "Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you are froward you shall see who is the stronger, a gentle little girl who doesn't eat enough or a big wild man who has cocaine in his body. In my last severe depression I took coca again and a small dose lifted me to the heights in a wonderful fashion. I am just now busy collecting the literature for a song of praise to this magical substance." Little Big Man--Dustin Hoffman Big Wild Man--Sigmund Freud Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
