Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver&...
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Feb 17, 2010
Meaghan
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Written in clear, lucid prose any reasonably intelligent adult could understand, without a lot of confusing jargon, Dr. Mate explains the forces behind addiction and why so many addicts fail time and time again to get clean, in spite of all the incentives for doing so. This book gave me a lot to think about regarding the brain, and I also found his cautionary points about adoption studies and twin studies very interesting and relevant. Mate conclusively demonstrates that addicts are not "ba
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Feb 03, 2012
Lumumba
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This is a fascinating look at the chemistry of addiction and a call to a more progressive public policy. Dr. Gabor Mate's style of writing is captivating and he is masterful at explaining specialized knowledge in laymen's language. My own mother, a recent graduate of medical school, when I summarized some of his arguments, commented on how Dr. Mate made connections for her that she could not quite make herself during her medical training (due to the emphasis on "treatment" over cause w
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Jan 09, 2012
Jansen
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Dr. Mate's book is one of the most important of our age. Throughout he documents the plague of our time, addictions ranging from drug abuse to work-a-holism. He cites study after study, experience (he is a serial addict himself) as a drug counselor and researcher. It is stress, he argues, prenatal and as infants, which causes the childhood brain to wire itself in self destructive ways. These efforts are essential to survival as children but devastating in adolescents and adults.
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Jan 26, 2010
Kat
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Let's just say this book made me cry a bit. I used to nanny for a drug court judge and former public defender, and I thought of the general observations she used to make about the losing battle in the "war on drugs"a lot as I read In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Gabor Mate is like the Dr. Drew of Canada, and he seems to really care for and understand his patients' struggles with addiction in a way that the people leading the fight in the drug wars fail to see, I think.
In th More...
In th More...
Aug 22, 2011
Stephanie
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I read this for a master of social work drug and alcohol class. The professor said we would likely become enthralled and breeze through it's 400 plus pages in a weekend as she did. That was not my experience. I took a really long time reading this book, highlighting as I went.
It was an excellent introduction to the field of addiction, blending tender humanity with hard science. I found Dr. Mate's critiques on the horribly flawed legal system to be spot on, his personal vingetes and descrip More...
It was an excellent introduction to the field of addiction, blending tender humanity with hard science. I found Dr. Mate's critiques on the horribly flawed legal system to be spot on, his personal vingetes and descrip More...
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Nov 25, 2009
Andrew
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I cannot say enough good things about "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts". It is informative, well-written, touching, and inspirational. I have already started recommending it to friends and family as a must-read. The information is timely and important; our behaviour (collective and individual) towards addicts is at best of minimally useful and at worst counter-productive. “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” should be a wake up call for individuals and society to think differently about t
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Dec 30, 2010
This book by a Canadian doctor describes addiction as a human response to trauma and an attempt to fill painful emptiness from the outside. The author says that most of his patients suffered terrible trauma in childhood and that such trauma can change the way the brain develops and affect later responses to stress. He argues against the hereditary theory of addiction. I find this interesting because in my experience working with mentally ill adults, I have also learned that most of them suffered
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Nov 29, 2010
cscb
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well-argued, easy to digest, highly compassionate and self-aware. while respecting the severity of hardcore drug addiction, mate situates it on a spectrum on which we all fall. he articulates a convincing explanation for these types of behaviors as fulfilling fundamental needs, which traumatic social and familial interactions have made it difficult to meet via the normal, more socially accepted, less physically detrimental means. in taking a closer look at and beginning to wonder how to refas
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May 27, 2010
Emily
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Anyone who knows me well knows why this book is so close to my heart. Though I'm only on ch.4, I've also read ch.31, Four Steps, Plus One, which deals with behavioral addictions, such as my own 14 year struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. What you may not know is that in 2002 I was in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on what a local poet calls "the streets of displacement and the buildings of exclusion." We, to their amazement, were only trying to score some weed. It's a funny sto
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Aug 06, 2011
Jesse
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Far and away the most insightful, intelligent, and illuminating thing I've read on the subject of addiction-- especially drug addiction, but also behavioural addiction. I drew out the process of reading it for days in the hopes that I'd absorb it better-- particularly details about the neurophysiology of addiction and the chain of influence that leads an individual to become addictive. The book's only weakness is Maté's tendency to discuss his own compulsive and addictive behaviour (work addicti
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Mar 21, 2010
Rachel
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As psychology texts go, Dr. Gabor Maté's chronicle of the experience of many drug-addicted Canadians is rather accessible and easy to read. Dr. Maté outlines the experiences of many of the people living on skid row, and tries to rationalize their addictions without judging or justifying. In this, he succeeds nobly -- I would suspect that few readers can walk away from this book without having their eyes opened to the challenging situation in which many addicts find themselves, and without feelin
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Jan 26, 2012
Ariadna73
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This is a wonderful book. There is no more accurate description. It is an eye-opener on how the addict mind is that way not only because of the bad choices the person has made or her weaknesses, but also because the weaknesses of the humanity as a whole. We need to be less judgmental and more loving and caring. The majority of those persons only need one thing that they have never had: love, compassion, human contact. They live a daily hell here on earth, and us -"worthy people"- are n
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Apr 02, 2010
Reid
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This book about addictions of all types has much to recommend it. Maté has a wealth of experience with severe drug addiction, and he has obviously done his homework. But he has a tendency to go on and on (an addiction of its own!) and the book becomes tedious. He belabors many of his arguments and piles documentation upon documentation until one is bewildered by the sheer volume of the verbiage. What the author could most benefit from is a strict editor who could make this book about 2/3 its cur
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Jan 07, 2010
Djrmel
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Mate brings his years of experience treating addicts, loads of scientific research on the subject, and his personal addiction together to produce a book that is highly readable and for the most part very informative. His narrative passages (at least half the book) provide case study after case study of real people he has known. That is when the book is its best: pointing out that addicts are people first and illnesses second. The portions of the book that deal with research data and scientific
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Feb 17, 2010
Crystal
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From the perspective of an employee in an HIV clinic, I think this book is a fantastic point of view on addiction. It gives very forward thinking ideas on how to behave toward my addicts.
As an addict, it also provides a very forward thinking perspective on my own demons. I think I have a few new tools to get past some lingering addictive behaviors.
As a sister and daughter of 2 addicts, I think this has given me some insight into their addictive behaviors also. Perhaps to More...
As an addict, it also provides a very forward thinking perspective on my own demons. I think I have a few new tools to get past some lingering addictive behaviors.
As a sister and daughter of 2 addicts, I think this has given me some insight into their addictive behaviors also. Perhaps to More...
Jun 12, 2008
Yoshiko
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This author clears away the clutter and gets down to the core problems facing our society. More and more people will fall into addiction if we as a society do not address these issues.
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Nov 21, 2010
Matt
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This is a sweeping survey of addiction. It's written by a doctor who works at the Portland Hotel Society, which houses intravenous drug users and provides many related services, from treatment obviously through what was North America's first safe injection site, where users can inject drugs overseen by nurses. It starts with very realistic and compassionately drawn sketches of his clients, proceeds to cover the physiology of addiction, its causes, harm reduction, and the war on drugs.
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Sep 24, 2011
Miller
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The most powerful & provocative thing I've read in as long as I can remember. Continually sent me to my journal writing down things about public policy, meditation, emotion regulation, compassion... An amazing book. I feel, as cheesy as this sounds to say, enriched for having read it. Returning my copy to the library & have ordered one so I can lend it out! Here's an hour-longish talk given by the author at Seattle's Town Hall back in January of 2010: http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=22333
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Feb 12, 2011
Dorothy
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Gabor Mate is a physician who treats hard core drug addicts in a Vancouver harm reduction facility. His look at his patient's lives and the underlying causes (both physiological and environmental) of addiction are interesting and heart felt. He lost me in his lengthy discussion that related his own addictive behavior (buying too many classical music cd's) to those of his patients, but his recommendations for treating the spirit as well as the body of the addict are intelligent and compassionate.
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Nov 12, 2011
We shall see.... for sad and worrisome reasons, I am reading this book. As an extra grace, it is for me a real enhancement to my own recovery... I can already tell it is good reading and written well... It will be interesting to see how the author deals with the 12 Step Recovery in American culture since he is a Canadian author living in Vancouver. LOVED THE TITLE OF THE BOOK... "In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts" I believe it would be good reading for clergy, social workers, educators,
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Sep 30, 2011
Jenny
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Things I want to remember: compassionate curiosity toward one's self leads to truth, the common experience of the inner void, babies need attunement, nutrition, physical security, and consistant emotional nuturing for healthy neurobiological brain development. There was a good Nietsche quote on page 345. Whatever we don't deal with in our lives, we pass on to our children - our unfinished emotional business becomes theirs.
Mindful awareness. Implicit memory. Bare attention (Buddhism).
Every ch More...
Mindful awareness. Implicit memory. Bare attention (Buddhism).
Every ch More...
Jan 22, 2011
Melanie
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Everyone who has been close to someone with an addiction, or who has dealt with his or her own addictions should read this book. In short, EVERYONE should read this book.
I heard Dr. Mate speak at a fundraising event for the Harm Reduction Action Center http://www.harmreductionactioncenter.org... and Improbable Pictures' http://improbablepictures.com/ production of the documentary, U.S.E.D., in Denver late last year. I know that I wasn't the only person in attendance that night that More...
I heard Dr. Mate speak at a fundraising event for the Harm Reduction Action Center http://www.harmreductionactioncenter.org... and Improbable Pictures' http://improbablepictures.com/ production of the documentary, U.S.E.D., in Denver late last year. I know that I wasn't the only person in attendance that night that More...
Jul 31, 2011
Amy
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I heard about this book through an interview with the author, Dr. Gabor Maté, on NPR. At first I was shocked to hear him talk about working at “North America's only supervised injection site,” located in Vancouver, where people addicted to narcotics can inject themselves in the presence of medical personnel. But I was intrigued to hear Dr. Maté talk about the need for more compassionate care instead a system of punishment for people with drug addictions.
Breaking the cycle of More...
Feb 24, 2010
Chana
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This is non-fiction, written about addiction, drug addiction in particular. Dr. Mate works with addicts living in Vancouver, B.C.'s downtown eastside. He covers such topics as brain development, early childhood experiences, the addiction process, and social, law and government policies on drugs such as "The war on drugs", harm reduction, decriminalization- not legalization- of drugs, and government sponsored clean injection sites. It is very interesting and, without being a professiona
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Oct 20, 2009
Jennifer
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I rate this book 4.5 Stars.
From Amazon: "He would probably dispute it, but Gabor Maté is something of a compassion machine. Diligently treating the drug addicts of Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside with sympathy in his heart and legislative reform in mind can't be easy. But Maté never judges. His book is a powerful call-to-arms, both for the decriminalization of drugs and for a more sympathetic and informed view of addiction. As Maté observes, "Those whom we dismiss a More...
From Amazon: "He would probably dispute it, but Gabor Maté is something of a compassion machine. Diligently treating the drug addicts of Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside with sympathy in his heart and legislative reform in mind can't be easy. But Maté never judges. His book is a powerful call-to-arms, both for the decriminalization of drugs and for a more sympathetic and informed view of addiction. As Maté observes, "Those whom we dismiss a More...
Jan 11, 2010
Jim
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informative and depicts the drug addicted"s world in real terms
got this book on win a book on Goodreads
nevertheless, I already was convinced more than 30 years ago of how addled/counterproductive the US"s and other countries' drug policies were but there's too many vested interests (more police, more prisons, more judges, more lawyers needed to fight this lost war) in keeping those policies punitive rather than rehabilitative even though taxing drugs would gener More...
got this book on win a book on Goodreads
nevertheless, I already was convinced more than 30 years ago of how addled/counterproductive the US"s and other countries' drug policies were but there's too many vested interests (more police, more prisons, more judges, more lawyers needed to fight this lost war) in keeping those policies punitive rather than rehabilitative even though taxing drugs would gener More...
Dec 20, 2011
Kali
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not the book i wanted it to be, but so mind blowing/opening/debatable just the same.
quote from dr. bruce perry in this book: "a child who is stressed early in life will be more overreactive and reactive. he is triggered more easily, more anxious and distressed. now, compare a person-child, adolescent, or adult-whose baseline arousal is normal with another whose baseline state of arousal is at a higher level. give them both alcohol: both may experience the same intoxicating eff More...
quote from dr. bruce perry in this book: "a child who is stressed early in life will be more overreactive and reactive. he is triggered more easily, more anxious and distressed. now, compare a person-child, adolescent, or adult-whose baseline arousal is normal with another whose baseline state of arousal is at a higher level. give them both alcohol: both may experience the same intoxicating eff More...
Feb 26, 2010
Leslie
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Mate humanizes drug addiction in the excellent and approachable work. Enough serious science for the healthcare or social work professional combine with enough story to satisfy the lay reader. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts explains the process of addiction in the brain and offers a framework for changing how society views and treats addicts.
Using his own nearly insatiable need for classical music, Mate demonstrates the continuum of addictive behavior and places it within the cont More...
Using his own nearly insatiable need for classical music, Mate demonstrates the continuum of addictive behavior and places it within the cont More...
Apr 17, 2009
Geoffrey
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Wow! I loved this book. The author, Gabor Mate, works on East Hastings, Vancouver. Canadian ground zero for addicts. He's the house doctor for The Portland Hotel Assoc, which houses the "unhousable" and has the (unfortunately) radical policy of ACCEPTING PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. Gabor has a decidedly buddhist inclination and talks a lot about his own addictions and the roots of addiction (especially the early childhood environment). Compassionate. Illuminating.
May 17, 2010
lola
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almost embarrassingly thorough and the best book on addiction i have ever read or ever hope to read. a holistic treatment--goes through his own personal stories of patient care of heavy users living in the "skid row" of vancouver, his own problems with addiction, the physiology and then the psychology of addiction, makes policy recommendations at the end that didn't make me hate him or question his principles. and it's beautifully written.
