The Myth of Normal

<p><b>Gabor Maté (Author) </b><br> A celebrated speaker and bestselling author <b>Dr Gabor Maté</b> is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction stress and childhood development. Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues Dr Maté weaves together scientific research case histories and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them. <br><br>For twelve years Dr Maté worked in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard-core drug addiction mental illness and HIV including at Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site. With over 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience and extensive knowledge of the latest findings of leading-edge research Dr Maté is a sought-after speaker and teacher regularly addressing health professionals educators and lay audiences throughout North America. <br><br>As an author Dr Maté has written several bestselling books including the award-winning <i>In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts</i> <i>When the Body Says No</i> <i>Scattered Minds</i> and co-authored <i>Hold on to Your Kids</i>. His most recent book <i>The Myth of Normal: Trauma Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture</i> is a <i>New York Times</i> bestseller. Dr Maté's works have been published internationally in over twenty languages.<br><br>Dr Gabor Maté has received the Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction; an Honorary Degree (Law) from the University of Northern British Columbia; an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Simon Fraser University and the 2012 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Mothers Against Teen Violence. He is an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. <br><br>Supporters of Dr Maté include Dr Rangan Chatterjee Simon Amstell Bessel van der Kolk Johann Hari Esther Perel and Russell Brand. He was recently featured in the highly publicised livestream conversation with Prince Harry where they discussed loss trauma and the importance of healing.<br><br><b>Daniel Maté (Author) </b><br> <b>Daniel Maté</b> is an acclaimed composer-lyricist who has received the Kleban Prize for Lyrics the ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award and a Jonathan Larson Grant. His musicals include <i>The Longing and the Short of It</i> <i>Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Gu¨nter</i> <i>Middle School Mysteries </i>and a forthcoming adaptation of the Russell Banks novel <i>The Sweet Hereafter</i>. He also runs a popular 'mental chiropractic' service called Take a Walk with Daniel.<br><br></p> <p><b>We tend to believe that normality equals health. Yet what <i>is</i> the norm in the Western world?</b><br><br>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.<br><br>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 <i>all</i> disease is actually a natural reflection of life in an <i>abnormal</i> culture as we grow further and further apart from our true selves. But he also shows us the pathway to reconnection and healing.<br><br>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. <i>The Myth of Normal</i> is Gabor Maté's most ambitious compassionate and urgent book yet.</p> Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being and our social connectivity (in short: how we live) is intimately intertwined with health disease and addictions ... This riveting and beautifully written tale has profound implications for all of our lives including the practice of medicine and mental health Wise sophisticated rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become 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 An astonishing achievement epic in scope and yet profoundly down-to-earth and practical. I will read this book again and again Brilliant compelling and groundbreaking. Gabor Maté offers us a way to bring clear seeing and a greatness of heart to the crisis of our times A book in which readers can seek refuge and solace during moments of profound personal and social crisis Gabor Maté's connections - between the intensely personal and the global the spiritual and the medical the psychological and the political - are bold wise and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished A compelling book that will challenge your views and help lift the veil of illusion to what is truly happening in your mind and in your body Gripping ... a powerful call for change in how we live with love understand treat and think about each other