The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture Gabor Maté, MD, Daniel Maté

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 roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son Daniel, The Myth Of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet. Cover Praise for The Myth of Normal Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph Author’s Note Contents Introduction: Why Normal Is a Myth (And Why That Matters) Part I: Our Interconnected Nature Chapter 1: The Last Place You Want to Be: Facets of Trauma Chapter 2: Living in an Immaterial World: Emotions, Health, and the Body-Mind Unity Chapter 3: You Rattle My Brain: Our Highly Interpersonal Biology Chapter 4: Everything I’m Surrounded By: Dispatches from the New Science Chapter 5: Mutiny on the Body: The Mystery of the Rebellious Immune System Chapter 6: It Ain’t a Thing: Disease as Process Chapter 7: A Traumatic Tension: Attachment vs. Authenticity Part II: The Distortion of Human Development Chapter 8: Who Are We Really? Human Nature, Human Needs Chapter 9: A Sturdy or Fragile Foundation: Children’s Irreducible Needs Chapter 10: Trouble at the Threshold: Before We Come into the World Chapter 11: What Choice Do I Have? Childbirth in a Medicalized Culture Chapter 12: Horticulture on the Moon: Parenting, Undermined Chapter 13: Forcing the Brain in the Wrong Direction: The Sabotage of Childhood Chapter 14: A Template for Distress: How Culture Builds Our Character Part III: Rethinking Abnormal: Afflictions as Adaptations Chapter 15: Just Not to Be You: Debunking the Myths About Addiction Chapter 16: Show of Hands: A New View of Addiction Chapter 17: An Inaccurate Map of Our Pain: What We Get Wrong About Mental Illness Chapter 18: The Mind Can Do Some Amazing Things: From Madness to Meaning Part IV: The Toxicities of Our Culture Chapter 19: From Society to Cell: Uncertainty, Conflict, and Loss of Control Chapter 20: Robbing the Human Spirit: Disconnection and Its Discontents Chapter 21: They Just Don’t Care If It Kills You: Sociopathy as Strategy Chapter 22: The Assaulted Sense of Self: How Race and Class Get Under the Skin Chapter 23: Society’s Shock Absorbers: Why Women Have It Worse Chapter 24: We Feel Their Pain: Our Trauma-Infused Politics Part V: Pathways to Wholeness Chapter 25: Mind in the Lead: The Possibility of Healing Chapter 26: Four A’s and Five Compassions: Some Healing Principles Chapter 27: A Dreadful Gift: Disease as Teacher Chapter 28: Before the Body Says No: First Steps on the Return to Self Chapter 29: Seeing Is Disbelieving: Undoing Self-Limiting Beliefs Chapter 30: Foes to Friends: Working with the Obstacles to Healing Chapter 31: Jesus in the Tipi: Psychedelics and Healing Chapter 32: My Life as a Genuine Thing: Touching Spirit Chapter 33: Unmaking a Myth: Visioning a Saner Society Acknowledgments Notes Index About the Authors Copyright Title Page Dedication Contents Chapter 1: ‘I’m thinking’ – Oh, but are you? Chapter 2: Renegade perception Chapter 3: The Pushbacker sting Chapter 4: ‘Covid’: The calculated catastrophe Chapter 5: There is no ‘virus’ Chapter 6: Sequence of deceit Chapter 7: War on your mind Chapter 8: ‘Reframing’ insanity Chapter 9: We must have it? So what is it? Chapter 10: Human 2.0 Chapter 11: Who controls the Cult? Chapter 12: Escaping Wetiko Postscript Appendix: Cowan-Kaufman-Morell Statement on Virus Isolation Bibliography Index We Tend To Believe That Normality Equals Health. Yet What Is The Norm In The Western World? Mental Illness Is On An Unstoppable Rise. Some 45% Of Europeans Suffer High Blood Pressure, And Nearly 70% Of Americans Take At Least One Prescription Drug. Illness And Trauma Are Defining How We Live. In His New Masterpiece, Renowned Physician, Addiction Expert And Author Gabor Maté Dissects The Underlying Causes Of This Malaise - Physical And Emotional, And Connects The Dots Between Our Personal Suffering And The Pressures Of Modern-day Living. Over Four Decades Of Clinical Experience, Dr Maté Has Found That The Common Definition Of 'normal' Is False: Virtually All Disease Is Actually A Natural Reflection Of Life In An Abnormal Culture, As We Grow Further And Further Apart From Our True Selves. But He Also Shows Us The Pathway To Reconnection And Healing. Filled With Stories Of People In The Grip Of Illness Or In The Triumphant Wake Of Recovery, This Life-affirming Book Shows How True Health Is Possible - If We Are Willing To Embrace Authenticity Above Social Expectations. The Myth Of Normal Is Gabor Maté's Most Ambitious, Compassionate And Urgent Book Yet. ## Praise for The Myth of Normal "In The Myth of Normal, Gabor Maté takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being and our social connectivity (in short, how we live) are intimately intertwined with health, disease, and addictions. Chronic mental and physical illnesses may not be separate and distinct diseases but intricate, multilayered processes that reflect (mal)adaptations to the cultural context that we live in and the values we live by. This riveting and beautifully written tale has profound implications for all of our lives, including the practice of medicine and mental health."