An anatomy of addiction

Sigmund Freud, William Halsted and the miracle drug, cocaine

by
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Howard Markel: An anatomy of addiction (2011, Pantheon Books)

314 pages

English language

Published Feb. 16, 2011 by Pantheon Books.

ISBN:
978-0-375-42330-7
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OCLC Number:
659304879

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3 stars (1 review)

The astonishing account of the decades-long cocaine use of Sigmund Freud and William Halsted. The author discusses the physical and emotional damage caused by the constant use of the then-heralded wonder drug, and of how each man ultimately changed the world in spite of it--or because of it.

2 editions

reviewed An anatomy of addiction by Howard Markel

Review of 'An anatomy of addiction' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A good account of these stories. There are several things mentioned that I haven't seen elsewhere. For example, I always assumed that Halstead washed his hands in carbolic (phenol) like Lister did, but he used a series of baths of permanganate, oxalic acid and bichloride of mercury [!!!]. Markel says that they had their hands in mercuric chloride for five minutes. This seems unlikely to me. It's probably just me, but I don't see why the author sometimes refers to Dr. Halstead as Halstead and sometimes as William.

Subjects

  • History
  • Cocaine
  • Surgeons
  • Anesthesiology
  • Cocaine abuse
  • History, 19th Century
  • Cocaine-Related Disorders
  • General Surgery
  • History, 20th Century
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Anesthesia
  • Biography
  • Psychoanalysts

Places

  • United States
  • Austria