Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

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

4 reviews

toephia's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

Informative, dense, and to-the-point; addresses trauma’s impact on the individual body + the collective; analysis of current Western medical practices; discussion of society and capitalism as source of mass trauma. Empowering and compassionate read. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Medical content, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Drug abuse, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders

faduma's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Homophobia, Medical content, Pedophilia, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

meganpbell's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

A must read for fans of The Body Keeps the Score and anyone interested in the science and literature of trauma (should be us all!), The Myth of Normal is a moving, groundbreaking, and holistic exploration of just how sick “normal” is, the connection between the mind, personality, experiences, culture and the body, and ways to move forward and heal. I wish it was even more inclusive than it was, but I found it eye-opening, affirming, and crucial.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content, Addiction, Death, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Genocide, Medical trauma, War, Pregnancy, Racism, and Terminal illness

3littlewordz's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

3.75

Well, this was undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking by Dr. Mate and his son, Daniel. It was recommended several times in a Facebook book group I visit regularly. It also had a pretty long wait through Libby, so I figured it was worth reading. It should be evident to anyone paying attention that trauma is pervasive throughout our society and that something must be done about it. In this offering, Dr. Mate attempts to tackle the near totality of “trauma, illness, and healing in a toxic culture”, which he does with varying success throughout the book. Dr. Mate thoroughly establishes the myriad of opportunities that trauma has to influence our bodymind (which he and many others have begun to use without a hyphen to emphasize how they should be treated as one, not separately), and how that trauma is introduced at an individual, familial, cultural, societal, and global level. Many of the interviewees throughout the book recounted both intense and more subtle ways in which their childhood traumas affected them in adulthood, leading to at times to acute medical conditions and addiction. Much of what he discusses in the book is not new knowledge - in fact, some philosophers, scientists, and spiritual leaders have long spoken about how outside stressors and trauma affect our physical, mental, and spiritual health. I think what makes Dr. Mate’s approach so different, and therefore engaging (for me at least) is the regular identification of things we think of as “normal” that are likely contributing to this attack on our health (hence the name). 


At times the text felt unnecessarily wordy (and I’m all about being concise, especially in nonfiction). Also, some of the chapters in Part V didn’t translate well to the page for me because these exercises seem much better executed within the care of a professional (such as a therapist). But I can appreciate that he offers the exercises anyway since we sorely lack availability of mental health services, particularly in the US. I have a large amount of notes from this reading and plan to revisit several chapters and I continue to read and research trauma and how to reverse its effects. Overall, I think this book is a profound contribution to literature surrounding trauma and I’ve already recommended it to several people. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Xenophobia, Cancer, Racism, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism