Freud the crack head?

[ColonelCossack]

I heard that the Freud, the famous psychoanalyst (if that is, indeed what he was :P) was under the influence of Cocaine and other drugs whilst formulating many of his theories. Is this true? Or is this total bull?

I know virtually nothing about Freud and his profession (i.e. mind-related science), so I have NO IDEA if this is true or not, I just heard it, so its not me saying it. So if its a load of crap... its not me. Its some crazy conspiracy theorist. Not that I have anything against conspiracy theorists. Im just trying to placate people.

I'll stop typing now. :tt2:

[Turinbaar]

Frued actually wrote a book titled "On Cocaine." I believe its somewhere around seven hundred pages long. Guess why.

[Zealot]

Not sure but, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised...

[Turinbaar]

http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/cocaine/freud.htm

this link contains an excerpt detailing his personal experience while on the drug.

[ColonelCossack]

http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/cocaine/freud.htm

this link contains an excerpt detailing his personal experience while on the drug.

I think that's the text the person quoted from. i just wasn't sure if my source was drunk, so they might have been lying.

[Turinbaar]

I think that's the text the person quoted from. i just wasn't sure if my source was drunk, so they might have been lying.

No they weren't drunk

here's a gem


Long-term use of coca is further strongly recommended and allegedly has been tried with success

[a rebel]

Well most of Freud's theories have been proven wrong, so it makes sense him being high when he formulated them

[Revy]

Cocaine is not a "bad" substance. The issue is, the more toxic "crack" which contains way too much concentrated cocaine, and possibly toxic chemicals introduced in the process of making it.

Coca leaves are natural and harmless.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I think the fact of whether or not Freud was on coke while writing On Cocaine or any other work is irrelevant. I actually find Freud's work on cocaine to be interesting and refreshing. I think cocaine is a severely underestimated drug. There are numerous positive benefits to use of cocaine.

[Bardo]

Freud was a notorious cocaine user. If I recall correctly he was even an intravenous user.

[agnixie]

No they weren't drunk

here's a gem

He admittedly does document withdrawal symptoms in there, too. From his own iirc. Also coca tea, while nowhere near as strong as cocaine, is pretty interesting to try.

[Kenco Smooth]

Freud didn't so much view cocaine as a purely recreational drug but one that had great potential in a medical setting (not so insane, there are still therapists declaring the positive influences of LSD and MDMA in treatment of mental issues). He was also an early proponent of using it as anesthetic, which he was completely right about.

However his open support for the drug did seem to wane in the latter half of his life after his friend Ernst von Fleichl-Marxow, whom Freud had introduced to cocaine, developed acute psychosis in relation to the drug. Indeed despite being in great pain in the last years of his life due to cancer it does not seem evident that Freud ever sought to self-medicate with cocaine.


Well most of Freud's theories have been proven wrong, so it makes sense him being high when he formulated them

Plato had no understanding of the basic rules of language that led him into many problems and Copernicus only got the heliocentric model right on a complete guess (he was unable to provide sufficient evidence to prove it) yet these men are clearly recognised as giants on whose shoulders their respective fields stand. The same needs be acknowledged of Freud who, although having led psychiatry down a largely dead end and very possibly falsifying results, also provided great insights which are fundamental in our understanding of the mind to this day(i.e. that the mind is not whole and undivided as many modern philosophers had believed).

[Hoipolloi Cassidy]

My, my, we do have a little bunch of radical prudes here, don't we?

Hey, Keith Richards uses cocaine, too. What is it you guys have against the Stones?