Freud became friends with Joseph Breuer and studied with Charcot in Paris. All of this played a big part on the development of Freud's career. Freud's connection with cocaine caused a major setback in his career. Freud began experimenting with cocaine in the spring of 1884. This came about after he had realized it was being used in the military to increase energy and endurance of soldiers. He found that the cocaine calmed his feelings of depression and relieved indigestion. It also helped him work, and it seemed to have no bad side effects. Aside from taking cocaine regularly himself, Freud began distributing cocaine to his sisters, friends, colleagues, and patients. He even gave some to his fiancee, Martha Bernays, to make her strong and give her cheeks a red color. Freud's patients seem to improve from taking cocaine. This made Freud feel like a real physician. He began advocating cocaine, and he published six articles within the next two years, explaining the benefits of cocaine. Carl Koller, one of Freud's colleagues, learned that cocaine could be used for anesthesia. Within a few months, Koller was using cocaine during eye operations. He wrote a paper about how the use of cocaine could be used as an anesthetic during these operations. This paper brought him worldwide fame. This caused regret in Freud. He had just missed the opportunity to gain professional recognition. All of Freud's beliefs about cocaine proved false except for its anesthetizing benefit. In 1884, he gave cocaine to his friend Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, who was addicted to morphine. Freud's intention was to switch this addiction from morphine to cocaine, believing cocaine to be harmless. Instead Fleischl died a cocaine addict. Freud was criticized for his advocacy of cocaine. It was this cocaine episode that made the medical profession skeptical of his later works.
Freud was never addicted to cocaine. He was, however, addicted to nicotine most of his adult life.
