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

by Gabor Maté

One 2019 study alone in Cancer Research should set every clinician on a fast-track exploration of bodymind medicine. Women with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were found to have twice the risk of ovarian cancer as women with no known trauma exposure.[10] The Daily Gazette, published by Harvard University, where the study was done, reported, “The findings indicate that having higher levels of PTSD symptoms, such as being easily startled by ordinary noises or avoiding reminders of the traumatic experience, can be associated with increased risks of ovarian cancer even decades after women experience a traumatic event.” The more severe the trauma symptoms, the more aggressive the cancer proved to be.