Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté

9 reviews

stebo24's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, and Drug abuse

anisah's review

challenging informative relaxing medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Classism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Genocide, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Gun violence, Medical content, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

jess_always_reading's review

challenging informative reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

Dr. Maté is absolutely worth a read and his book has a wealth of information on addiction, societal stigma, and trauma. However, some parts of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts are a bit outdated esp cially when it comes to some best practices & inclusive language so a critical eye is important when reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicide, Colonisation, Chronic illness, Cancer, Pregnancy, Incest, Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Abortion, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Self harm, and Infidelity

vildanda's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This book was a challenging read, it took me two years to get through. That being said it is quite possibly the most memorable book I have read, I’ve talked to some many of my friends and family about it’s content, and from reading it have gained greater insight into myself and those around me. I highly recommend this book for any and everyone, it makes the science behind addiction accessible, helps one to better understand themself and the people in the world, and will undoubtedly change minds about how we treat those with addictions and the best ways of assisting people seeking recovery. The only downside is that some of the book felt a bit long winded, and I agree with other reviews that reflections and stories from more patients would have been a welcome addition. Overall would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse

cameliam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Dr. Gabor Maté expresses courageously the truths of the addicted person. Moving us away from our view of the addict only as someone living on the streets, addicted to the most illegal of drugs, to addressing the addicted personality that blends into what we call our «productive » society. Knowing we can only heal by addressing the route causes of the addicted brain: how it was not allowed to properly form during childhood.  This book teaches us that through compassionate and curious approaches only will we be able to soften the grips of addiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

smallredboy's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

Very touching book that talks about addiction in an incredibly personal and empathetic light. It has changed my perception of a lot of issues in our society and has made me more aware of the need of harm reduction all over the world. While it sometimes felt lacking in certain topics (LGBT people's propensity to addiction because of discrimination and the role of antiblackness in the War on Drugs, for example), I can blame this mostly on the fact the book was published in 2007, and research about LGBT people and substance abuse really only started in the 2010s. Still, with so many mentions about HIV, I expected at least a passing mention of gay people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Incest, Child abuse, Genocide, War, Abandonment, and Pregnancy

havelock's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

erenreads12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

What a breath of fresh air. Gabor Matt approaches addiction with a critical eye and mountains of compassion and empathy. I started reading this to better understand what a friend of mine went through - but this thorough, reflective and detailed exploration of addiction brought me to reflect on the experiences of many others around me, as well as myself. I drew huge amounts of understanding and empathy from this book, written with utmost sensitivity and filled with empirical evidence for a kind and compassionate approach to treating addiction.

This is an essential read for any and every aspiring or developing medical professional (doctor, psychiatrist, therapist, anyone), as well as anyone who has experienced addiction in any of its forms, and their friends and family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness