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

4.2 AVERAGE

mariannemersereau's profile picture

mariannemersereau's review against another edition

4.0
I marked so many pages in this book and took three pages of notes! The author reminds us that trauma pervades our culture. He asks "Where do we each fit on the broad and surprisingly inclusive trauma spectrum?" He writes that a happy childhood doesn't require extremes for its cracks to show. and recommends "compassionate inquiry" as an effective technique to use in beginning to explore our own trauma and that of others. Mr. Mate argues that the most powerful predictor of functioning in the present is a persons current relational connectedness, and the second most powerful component is the persons history of connectedness.. "The Myth of Normal" would be a great book for colleges to assign as a school-wide read. The author challenges the assertions of JD Vance who wrote "Hillbilly Elegy," a book that was sadly prescribed reading for many college students. Mr. Mate writes that "refusal to recognize broad economic and political conditions (i.e. toxic culture) as relevant to individual health and happiness is a core feature of materialistic ideology." He believes mental health is negatively impacted by this materialistic ideology and offers a rebuttal to the erroneous arguments put forth by Vance.
sarahc92's profile picture

sarahc92's review against another edition

4.0
dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

amanda_noel's review against another edition

4.0
A really excellent big picture book that gave me a lot to think about… but I think I’d like to delve into the author’s other, more narrow works, because sometimes the breadth made it all seem repetitive at times or not as in depth as I’d have like, but still well worth the read

theresa_jump's review against another edition

5.0
Monumental. Dr. Mate has a wide breadth of medical specialties. He shares life-affirming experiences of his patients and those he has experienced himself. Full of wisdom and heart. I wish everyone could read this book.

bookbench's review against another edition

4.0
Horrifically insightful.

nabild's review against another edition

5.0
informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
jniertit's profile picture

jniertit's review against another edition

5.0
Vital knowledge. I am beyond grateful for this book.
missy_evanko's profile picture

missy_evanko's review

2.0
This started out interesting but I feel like it kept repeating the same message over and over with limited hyper specific examples.  Overall, stress and trauma can mess up the body in internal and odd ways.  
hsawatzky98's profile picture

hsawatzky98's review

4.75
informative reflective medium-paced

thisiscorrina's review against another edition

5.0
informative reflective medium-paced