How 18th century literary women took opiates to cope with life

Eighteenth-century female authors such as Mary Robinson and Sara Coleridge were as dependent on laudanum as male writers, a new study reveals.

Laudanum, an alcoholic medicine containing opium, was frequently used as a painkiller until the early 1900s.

Although once readily available, laudanum is now prescription-only in the UK and is generally limited in use to helping opioid addicts with withdrawal symptoms.

It is well known that male authors including Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas De Quincey used the substance, but until now little was known about female authors using it.

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