Rachel Nuwer in Undark:
WHEN PHYSICIAN GABOR MATÉ published “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction” in 2009, most doctors, he wrote, still viewed addiction as a disease determined primarily through genetics, or as something that stems from lack of willpower. Maté argued that addiction’s true roots reside not in disposition or only in genes, but primarily in trauma. The book became an award-winning best-seller that, along with a growing body of scientific evidence, started to change how we understand and treat addiction.
Now, Maté is once again attempting to shift the conversation, this time about health at large, through a new book, “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture,” which he co-wrote with his son, Daniel Maté. Across nearly 500 pages, Maté (who assumes the narrator’s voice) draws from extensive research of scientific literature and decades of firsthand experience to build a bold, wide-ranging case about the origins of much of what ails us. He posits that everything from trauma and depression to hypertension and even some forms of cancer are symptoms of living in a society that runs counter to our biological needs and fails to recognize how connected our well-being is to everything and everyone around us.
More here.