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

THE INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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“Riveting and beautifully written.” —Bessel van der Kolk, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Body Keeps the Score

“Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative. . . . Essential reading.” —Tara Westover, New York Times bestselling author of Educated

“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, bestselling 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.