Freud and cocaine: The history of drug use in the early days of psychoanalysis

AN ESSENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO FREUD'S BIOGRAPHY, DRUG LITERATURE, AND THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. Convinced of the therapeutic benefits of cocaine, the young Sigmund Freud used the drug in research and treatments that preceded the most important theories of the father of psychoanalysis. With the change in medical opinion regarding the drug, Freud destroyed all documents related to its use, and the episode was suppressed by generations of followers. This book, a rare and impactful document, narrates and comments on the early years of Freud's research and his curious relationship with cocaine. This bold study reaches surprising conclusions, for example, admitting that drug use was essential for Freud to have the self-confidence necessary to delve into his most innovative theories and write *The Interpretation of Dreams*.