The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture

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Human nature,” Maté points out, is a term normally used in a negative context. He disputes the idea that people are naturally aggressive and selfish, saying that these attributes are the product of a toxic society, whereas it is natural for humans to need connections with those around them. Children are profoundly influenced by their connection to parents and other caregivers, and studies have shown that those who receive more affection in their early years experience less anxiety and distress later in life. A child’s health is also profoundly affected on a physical level by the stress the mother experiences before and during childbirth. For world-renowned physician Dr. Gabor Maté, the answer lies in trauma and chronic stress. In fact, these factors often underlie much of what we call disease. And in the book, I give many examples of people who are faced with serious diagnoses, written off by Western medicine, but they have a powerful transformation in their relationship to themselves. They regain that connection to themselves that they lost as a result of trauma. And as a result, their illness takes very surprising trajectories, sometimes miraculous. And so, in the book, I talk about women with rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis who are told that you’ve got this disease for the rest of your life, and it’s just a physical disease, nothing we can do about it. When they realize that both the rheumatoid arthritis and the multiple sclerosis have to do with trauma and stress, for which, by the way, there’s all kinds of research evidence, completely ignored in medical practice — but when they realize that how they live their lives, that the disease is not an accident, the disease is a manifestation of how they live their lives, informed by their unresolved trauma — when they deal with the trauma and they develop a different relationship to themselves, all of a sudden the disease lightens up for them, as you expect it would, once you realize that the mind and body are inseparable. In this revolutionary book,renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise.Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescriptiondrug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high bloodpressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of thepopulation. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness ison the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, we need to begin right at the beginning. And the beginning is actually in the womb. Now, we already know, from multiple, multiple studies — not even controversial — that the more stress there is on pregnant women, the greater the impact, even decades later, on the well-being of the infant. So, how are we looking after pregnant women? The average physician — I mean, I was trained as a medical doctor — to this day, the average physician, when they’re trained in prenatal care, they’re not trained to ask about the woman’s emotional states. They’re not trained to ask about: “How are you doing? How is your relationship? How is your work stress? What can we do to support you?” We only look after the body, and we separate the mind from the body. We know that stresses on the woman can already have an impact on the infant.

Gabor Maté articulates bluntly, brilliantly and passionately what all of us instinctively know but none of us really want to face: the entire social construct of the world we’re living in is deeply flawed,withtoxicitieson every level. Yet though the book makes clear what’s so terribly wrong, it also points to how we can make it right. Matéis a guide through the dangerous forest of our minds and our society, not letting us ignore the darkness but ultimately showing us the light. The Myth of Normal is exactly what we need.” –Marianne Williamson, New York Times bestselling author, A Return To Love By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “ normal” when it comes to health? Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “ normal” as false, neglecting the ro

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Born in Korea to a single mother, she was given up for adoption at six months. She was then taken in by an evangelical couple in the US, who raised her in a strict environment. For years, she suffered sexual abuse by her adoptive father –memories of which she’d repressed. Addiction, which has historically been misunderstood as the result of the addict’s bad choices or as a disease, is really a way of coping with suffering. Doctors who treat addicts should ask what benefit the drug, alcohol, or other substance or behavior confers on the addict and what type of suffering is being palliated. Instead, both doctor and patient are often all too willing to treat addiction and other mental problems from a purely biological standpoint, since this means that they do not have to do the hard work of examining the trauma in the patient’s life. People are so unwilling to face these traumas that their mind often concocts alternative narratives to explain the emotional scars they bear. These stories people tell themselves serve a purpose at the time but are often damaging in the long run.

Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, he is a survivor of the Nazi genocide. His maternal grandparents were killed in Auschwitz when he was five months old, his aunt disappeared during the war, and his father endured forced labour at the hands of the Nazis. NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Dr. Maté, explain how you understand, as you say in the book, that the term “trauma” has Greek origins, but that it’s — a) Peterson, a clinical psychologist (although his massive popularity was spurred by politicized media from his 2016 YouTube videos critiquing a Canadian gender identity discrimination bill). Yes, “The Myth of Normal” provides practical insights and guidance for navigating societal pressures and embracing individual uniqueness. The authors offer strategies for cultivating self-acceptance and self-compassion in the face of societal expectations. They also encourage readers to challenge their own biases and promote a culture of inclusivity and understanding. While the book does not provide a prescriptive roadmap, it offers thought-provoking perspectives that can empower readers to navigate societal pressures with greater authenticity and compassion.

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Now, we can make two assumptions. Either there’s some accidental, totally unexplainable rise in childhood pathology that has no specific reason whatsoever for its instigation, or we can recognize that we live in a toxic culture that, by its very nature, affects children development in such unhealthy ways that children are increasingly mentally unbalanced and desperate to the extent that they’re cutting themselves and even trying to kill themselves. Applied to medicine, this requires a new paradigm: biopsychosocial medicine. In other words, social health far broader than a 15-minute doctor visit when things are already falling apart for symptomatic, drug-induced relief/isolated interventions.

a) Peterson’s self-help to find personal meaning in Christian values while normalizing trauma to best fit into the meritocratic hierarchy. The Myth ofNormal is a detailed and wide-ranging look at what we all need to know–but all too often fail to live into–when it comes to human health, sanity, maturation, and happiness. It’s also a clear-eyed examination of the benefits, triumphs, limitations, and blind spots of our health andmental health care system.” –Resmaa Menakem, bestselling author of My Grandmother’s Hands, The Quaking of America, and Monsters in Love Western countries invest billions in healthcare, yet mental illness and chronic diseases are on a seemingly unstoppable rise. Nearly 70% of Americans are now on prescription drugs. So what is 'normal' when it comes to health? AMY GOODMAN: — of, what, 5 to 11. And the issue of mental health, overall, so critical at this point. You talk a lot also about loneliness. But can you start by talking about this mental health crisis among youth and the escalating suicide? In the decades since, research has supported the nurses’ observations. The title of one published article is, Patients with ALS Are Usually Nice Persons. And it’s true for other diseases, too. In 2000, Cancer Nursing looked at the relationship between anger repression and cancer. But how could a personality trait like niceness possibly predict disease?b) Maté’s challenge of “toxic culture” (capitalism/colonialism/bigotry/old science’s reductionism) with decolonization to rebuild communal relations/social values, incorporating new science’s holistic systems understanding (specifically: trauma-informed biopsychosocial medicine). They would write comments in each patient’s chart like, “Probably has ALS, she is too nice,” or “No way, he is NOT nice enough.” To the astonishment of the neurologists, these predictions were almost always correct. Confucius said to nurture a healthy nation we must first start with ourselves. Once we are healthy, it will reflect onto our family, once our family is healthy, it will reflect onto our community, once the community is healthy, it will reflect onto our nation. The Myth of Normal is a tour de force journey into the dissonant experience of being human in our aberrant and toxic modern culture. The journey is both heart-rending and exalted in its underlying purpose—to heal the rift from our authentic selves and the collective trauma that stifles our natural expression and joy.If you are ready to do the brave and life-shaking work of examining the truth of your life and the culture that we are literally in the death grips of—this is your read.” –Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD, MHS, ABoIM