I am currently reading a new book titled In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate, MD. Mate is a physician to severely addicted clients in the Downtown Eastside section of Vancouver Canada at the Portland Hotel.
On March 25, I will have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mate about addiction on The Sheri and Erin Show. Between now and then, I have to try and get clear on exactly what aspect of his work I want to know about most. I’m currently on page 328 of his his 416 page book and I’ve already read numerous things I’m interested in talking about with him. As a person who has struggled with addiction and worked with recovering addicts, I’m pleased to see that someone is bold enough to write holistically and compassionately about addiction. My hope is that this book gets talked about and utilized in treatment circles worldwide.
According to Mate’s book and the references he’s cited, addiction is very often tied to childhood abuse and neglect. When a young child experiences abuse or neglect during her developing years, it creates a lot of stress on her growing nervous system and has a profound effect on brain development. Chemicals that the body automatically produces when there is a strong mother/infant bond are very pleasurable; natures way of making sure the developing child gets the chemicals she needs to handle stress later in life. If those chemical reactions are absent in developing years, the child may grow into an adult who looks for this pleasure in other ways. According to brain research, the chemical reaction of opiates such as heroin is very similar to the chemical reaction of Oxytocin, a natural brain chemical that is released when the mother and child form a bond. This chemical is released as a result of bonding experiences such as loving eye contact, nurturing, encouragement and nursing.
Mate writes about how the “War on Drugs” has been a massive failure. Rather than providing treatment and solutions for those who suffer from addiction the “war” has turned addicts into criminals and made it more difficult from them to seek the help they need.
As a society, we have also adopted a moralistic, right/wrong view of addicts. Rather than see them as abused people, looking for relief from insurmountable emotional pain, we have chosen to see them as weak, flawed and immoral. Once again an attitude that makes treatment and recovery difficult to attain.
Mate believes that some addicts have experienced severe emotional pain and developmental deficits which have permanently impacted their brain chemistry. This makes it unreasonable to expect 100% abstinence for 100% of people who battle addictions. He believes in harm reduction, giving addicts safe ways to use drugs in a controlled environment for those who cannot or will not maintain complete abstinence.
Punishment and condemnation is counter-productive to true recovery. If addiction is significantly related to childhood abuse and neglect, the addict has endured more than his fair share of condemnation and punishment. No doubt, he has internalized this punishment and condemnation and carries it with him all day long. If punishment and condemnation worked, we never would have needed a War on Drugs.
So, there are a few of the points that Dr. Mate covers in his book. What do you think is most important for me to ask? What do you want to ask him? Do you have strong views for or against any of the points he’s made? Make a comment today and if we get it before Thursday, we’ll see if we can add it to our show.
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If you come across this blog after March 25, 2010, click on the player below to listen to an archive of the show.
If you’re interested in a fresh and holistic perspective of the many factors that contribute to addictive behavior, I highly recommend In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts – Close encounters with addiction by Gabor Mate, MD.
