In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

by Gabor Maté

Grasping the powerful impact of the early environment on brain development may leave us feeling hopelessly gloomy about recovery from addiction. It so happens that there are solid reasons not to despair. Our brains are resilient organs: some important circuits continue to develop throughout our entire lives, and they may do so even in the case of a hard-core drug addict whose brain “never had a chance” in childhood. That’s the good news, on the physical level. Even more encouraging, we will find later that we have something in or about us that transcends the firing and wiring of neurons and the actions of chemicals. The mind may reside mostly in the brain, but it is much more than the sum total of the automatic neurological programs rooted in our pasts. And there is something else in us and about us: it is called by many names, spirit being the most democratic and least denominational or divisive in a religious sense. Later in this book, we will also examine its powerful transformational role.