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

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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. DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, the key here is trauma. Trauma is a psychological wound that people sustain. And I’m saying that in this society, most of us, because of the nature of the culture, the way we raise children, the way we have to relate to each other, the very values of a society are traumatizing for a lot of people, so that it’s false to say that some people are normal and others are abnormal. In fact, we’re all on a spectrum of woundedness, which has great impact on how we relate to each other and on our health. So, we have to look for those conditions, not in the individual mind or brain or personality of the child or youth; we have to look at them in the social conditions that drive children in those directions. And unfortunately, in the public conversation around it, it’s all about the pathology and how to treat it, and it’s not about the social or cultural causes that are driving children in those desperate directions. DR. GABOR MATÉ: So, the pandemic actually revealed to us how toxic our idea of normal has been, because it showed us the desperate need for human connection that we all have. But this is in a culture that has been isolating and atomizing individuals for a long time, where loneliness has been an epidemic for decades. It showed the noxious effect of racism and inequality, because the people who had the greatest risk for being affected by COVID were those of a lower social class and of people of color.

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 wide-ranging and beautifully written book, Gabor Maté and his co-writer son Daniel offer an acute diagnosis of what ails our culture and a blueprint for personal healing, while pointing the way to what is required to create a more hospitable, human-friendly world for ourselves and our children.”– Dr. Shefali, New York Times bestselling author and clinical psychologist AMY GOODMAN: There’s this amazing figure out from the National Center for Health Statistics revealing that U.S. life expectancy fell from 79 years old in 2019 to 76 in 2021, the largest two-year decline in almost a century. With advances in modern medicine, it’s astounding, but maybe not astounding when you look at the kind of health system we have in this country, that increases the disparities between those who have wealth and those who don’t, when you look at, you know, health in a capitalist system. I was wondering if you could comment on that, Dr. Maté? Gabor and Daniel Maté offer a powerful and surprising redemptive path out of the toxic illusion of ‘normalcy.’ This remarkable and revolutionary book will profoundly impactthe wellbeing of self, society, and our earth at a time when wisdom and compassion are essential for our common survival.” –Rev. Joan Jiko Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen CenterIn Mee Ok’s case, the trauma of separation and sexual abuse was so painful and alarming that she had to disconnect entirely from her memories and her emotional self. At some point, she learned that working hard and being useful was a safe way to gain acceptance. The Myth of Normal is an astonishing achievement, epic in scope and yet profoundly down to earth and practical.I believe it will open the gates to a new time where we come to understand that our emotions, culture, bodies and spirits are not separate and wellness can only come about if we treat the whole being. I will read this book again and again.” –V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology Every once in a rare while a book comes along creating a new vision of the world, illuminating for us that which until now has been invisible, yet as vital to our health and well-being as water is to fish, oxygen is for our bodies, and love is for our souls. This work is such a tour de force, a humbling and brilliantly written exposition of what deeper healing requires.” –Jeffrey D. Rediger, MD, MDiv, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School, Author, CURED: Strengthen Your ImmuneSystem and Heal Your Life.

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).DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, whether we’re speaking about on a social level, which we have to speak, or whether on the individual level, which is what it strikes most of us, the first thing that has to happen is a recognition that how we’re living or some aspect of our lives is not working for us, and that there’s a cause for it, which we can actually uncover by some compassionate inquiry. The other thing that V has done is she became a powerful activist. And that social engagement, which connects her to people and has given such deep meaning to her life and her activity, that’s a powerful healing modality, as well. And I talk about that in the book. And V is such a noble and inspiring example of that. 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 — AMY GOODMAN: Gabor Maté, your book comes out at an extraordinary time, given your topic, and I know it took you years to write. But now in the pandemic, you have, according to the CDC, hospitals reported a 24% increase in mental health emergencies for children between the ages — 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?

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 The Myth of Normal is a book literally everyone will be enriched by – a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr, Maté’s many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom.” –Johann Hari, New York Times bestselling author of Stolen Focus In particular, Dr. Maté calls on us to stop seeing disease as an expression of individual pathology. Instead, people with illness are a “living alarm,” calling attention to the fact that what passes as normal in this culture is neither healthy nor natural. And things that are abnormal – addiction, mental health, and illness – are actually a reasonable response to the conditions of trauma and stress that many of us live in.AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk about how you view this, and how this — not just this country, the world can heal, especially focusing on youth?