The Myth of Normal

By: Gabor Maté MD, Daniel Maté

Narrated by: Daniel Maté

Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“This riveting and beautifully written tale has profound implications for all of our lives, including the practice of medicine and mental health.” —Bessel van der Kolk, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Body Keeps the Score

“Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become. Essential reading for anyone with a past and a future.” —Tara Westover, New York Times bestselling author of Educated

“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

“Gabor and Daniel Maté have delivered a book in which readers can seek refuge and solace during moments of profound personal and social crisis. The Myth of Normal is an essential compass during disorienting times.” —Esther Perel, psychotherapist, author, and host of Where Should We Begin

From our most trusted and compassionate authority on stress, trauma, and mental well-being—a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.

Gabor Maté’s internationally bestselling books have changed the way we look at addiction and have been integral in shifting the conversations around ADHD, stress, disease, embodied trauma, and parenting. Now, in this revolutionary book, he eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their health care systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to 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. In The Myth of Normal, co-written with his son Daniel, 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. The result is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

©2022 Gabor Maté (P)2022 Knopf Canada

Critic reviews

“In The Myth of Normal, 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.” (Bessel van der Kolk, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Body Keeps the Score)

“Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become. Essential reading for anyone with a past and a future.” (Tara Westover, New York Times bestselling author of Educated)

“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)

An interesting perspective about trauma

The book is a well written personal opinion by the authors with some basis of truth. It is a thoughtful perspective that can make you think about the possible association of childhood trauma to all your problems. I could have done without the political stance he threw in, showing him as a Jew hating Jew...it made me regret supporting him in buying this book.

Brilliant!

If you are interested in why you are who you are, and why our society is what it is, and what we can do about both of those, this book is a tremendously insightful perspective.
I strongly encourage you to check out and apply!