Abstract
Jean-Martin Charcot, the most celebrated neurologist of the 19th century, had a profound influence on Sigmund Freud's career. Freud spent the winter of 1885-1886 working in Charcot's neurology department in Paris. During this period, he went to Charcot's house on several occasions to participate in the very famous Tuesday soirées under the guidance of Gilles de la Tourette. Freud was always very proud to be invited and curious to meet the Parisian intellectual elite. On these occasions, however, he was very apprehensive and made frequent use of cocaine. Due to anxiety and the need to appear creative in front of Charcot, it is possible that Freud used cocaine at other times.
Highlights
HISTORICAL NOTEOvercoming bashfulness: how cocaine aided Freud to summon the courage to meet Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot, the most celebrated neurologist of the 19th century, had a profound influence on Sigmund Freud’s career
Freud finished medical school at the University of Vienna in 1882.1,2 The following year he joined the neurology service at the University of Vienna, under Theodor Meynert (1833-1892)[1,2,3]. It is from this period that his first reference to cocaine was expressed in a letter written on April 21, 1884 to his fiancée, Martha Bernays (1861-1951), when he identified it as a “therapeutic project and a hope”
Summary
Overcoming bashfulness: how cocaine aided Freud to summon the courage to meet Charcot.
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