Oral history interview with Marie Nyswander, 1981

Biographical Note

Dr. Marie Nyswander was born on March 13, 1919 in Reno, Nevada. Her father, James Nyswander, was a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan, and her mother, Dorothy Bird Nyswander was a professor of psychology at the University of California. Nyswander attended Sarah Lawrence College for her undergraduate education, and Cornell University for her medical doctorate degree. After graduating, she began working at Lexington, Kentucky, where she treated narcotic addicts. In the 1960s, Nyswander began working with Dr. Vincent Dole at Rockefeller University, where they researched and conducted studies on the efficacy of different maintenance drugs on narcotic addicts. In 1965, Nyswander and Dole published their discoveries, most controversial of which being that addiction was not a psychological disorder, but a metabolic disease, and could be treated with methadone. From there they went on to develop the methadone maintenance program, and methadone clinics soon opened all over the country. Nyswander is the author of two books, "The Drug Addict as a Patient" and "The Power of Sexual Surrender," as well as numerous papers on addiction and methadone treatment. She passed away in 1986

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Dr. Marie Nyswander discusses her career as a psychoanalyst working in New York City. Nyswander discusses her education at Sarah Lawrence College and Cornell University where she studied and trained to be a surgeon. She discusses her pivot from surgery to psychoanalysis. She describes her assignment to Lexington Kentucky Hospital through the Public Health Service during World War II. She discusses in great detail the negative attitudes towards drug addicts that were popular in the medical field at large, and specifically amongst the staff at Lexington Hospital. She discusses her 1956 book, "The Drug Addict as a Patient," including her motivations for writing it and the research she conducted. She explains in depth the long and complex process of developing the methadone treatment. She describes her discovery of the nature of addiction as a metabolic disease not a psychological disorder as it was previously conceptualized in the medical field. She describes pushback of the methadone treatment by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its then commissioner Harry J. Anslinger, the medical examiner's office, and the pervasive, generally conservative attitudes around drugs in the medical field. She describes the process of writing and presenting her findings alongside her research partner and husband Dr. Vincent Dole. Nyswander discusses the methadone "boom" in the 1960s and speculates what sociocultural factors may explain why the treatment took off. She discusses what an optimal narcotic policy in the United States would look like, mentioning a transition from methadone clinics to private care. She discusses the evolution of the methadone program since its inception, and its shortcomings

Subjects

• Anslinger, H. J. (Harry Jacob), 1892-1975.
• Courtwright, David T., 1952- interviewer.
• Dole, Vincent P. (Vincent Paul) 1913-2006.
• Drug abuse--United States--History--20th century.
• Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States.
• Drug addicts--United States.
• Drug control--United States--History--20th century.
• Interviews.
• Joseph, Herman, 1931- interviewer.
• Methadone maintenance--United States--History--20th century.
• Narcotic Farm.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Psychoanalysts--Interviews.
• Robinson, Marie Nyswander, 1919-1986--Interviews.

Access Conditions

Copyright by David Courtwright