In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Dr. Gabor Maté; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Daniel Maté

WINNER 2009 - BC Book Prize’s Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize

Profoundly original, bestselling writer and physician Gabor Maté looks at the epidemic of addictions in our society, tells us why we are so prone to them, and what is needed to liberate ourselves from their hold on our emotions and behaviours.

Gabor Maté is a staff physician at the Portland Hotel, a residence and harm reduction facility in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. His patients are challenged by life-threatening drug addictions, mental illness, Hepatitis C or HIV and, in many cases, all four. But if Dr. Maté’s patients are at the far end of the spectrum, there are many among us who are also struggling with addictions. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, work, food, sex, gambling and excessive inappropriate spending: what is amiss with our lives that we seek such self-destructive ways to comfort ourselves? And why is it so difficult to stop these habits, even as they threaten our health, jeopardize our relationships and corrode our lives?

Starting with a close view of his drug addicted patients, Dr. Maté looks at his own history of compulsive behaviour, weaving a story of real people who struggle with addiction with the latest research on addiction and the brain. A bold synthesis of clinical experience, insight and cutting edge scientific findings, Dr. Maté sheds light on this most puzzling of human frailties. He proposes a compassionate approach to helping drug addicts and, for the many behaviour addicts among us, to addressing the void addiction is meant to fill.

"I believe there is one addiction process, whether it manifests in the lethal substance dependencies of my Downtown Eastside patients, the frantic self-soothing of overeaters or shopaholics, the obsessions of gamblers, sexaholics and compulsive internet users, or in the socially acceptable and even admired behaviours of the workaholic. Drug addicts are often dismissed and discounted as unworthy of empathy and respect. In telling their stories my intent is to help their voices to be heard and to shed light on the origins and nature of their ill-fated struggle to overcome suffering through substance use. Both in their flaws and their virtues they share much in common with the society that ostracizes them. If they have chosen a path to nowhere, they still have much to teach the rest of us. In the dark mirror of their lives we can trace outlines of our own."—from In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

“Maté’s resonant, unflinching analysis of addiction today shatters the assumptions underlying our War on Drugs.”–Norm Stamper Retired Former Police Chief of Seattle Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

“Gabor Maté’s connections – between the intensely personal and the global, the spiritual and the medical, the psychological and the political – are bold, wise and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished and this exciting book arrives at just the right time.”–Naomi Klein Author, The Shock Doctrine

“With superb descriptive talents, Gabor Maté takes us into the lives of the emotionally destitute and drug addicted human beings who are his patients. In this highly readable and penetrating book, he gives us the disturbing truths about the nature of addiction and its roots in people’s early years-truths that are usually concealed by time and protected by shame, secrecy and social taboo.”–Vincent Felitti M.D. Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California Co-Principal Investigator, Adverse Childhood Experiences Study

“I recommend this wonderful book for anyone struggling with the heartache of addiction personally or professionally. Dr. Maté makes the thought-provoking and powerful arguments that human connections heal; and that the poverty of relationships in the modern world contributes to our vulnerability to unhealthy addictions of all manner. His uniquely humane perspective-all too absent from much of the 'modern' approach to addictions-should be a part of the training of all therapists, social workers and physicians.”–Bruce Perry M.D., Ph.D. Senior Fellow, Child Trauma Academy, Houston, TX Former Director, Mental Health Services for Children, Alberta Co-Author, The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog

“Dr. Gabor Maté distills the suffering of injection drug users into moving case histories and reveals how clearly he himself, as music collector and workaholic physician, fits his own definition of addiction. Informed by the new research on brain chemistry, he proposes sensible drug laws to replace the War on Drugs. Inspired by the evolving spirituality that underlies his life and work, he outlines practical ways of overcoming addiction. This is not a fix-it book to hurry through, but a deep analysis to reflect upon.”–Dr. Bruce Alexander Professor Emeritus (Psychology), Simon Fraser University Author, The Globalization of Addiction

“With unparalleled sympathy for the human condition, Gabor Maté depicts the suffocation of the spirit by addictive urges, and holds up a dark mirror to our society. This is a powerful narrative of the realm of human nature where confused and conflicted emotions underlie our pretensions to rational thought.”–Dr. Jaak Panksepp Distinguished Research Professor of Psychobiology, Bowling Green University Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Ohio Author, Affective Neuroscience

“Whether you are an addiction medicine professional, a family member of a loved one struggling with addiction, a student or a curious member of the public, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is a clarifying and positive work that can bring optimism and hope for transformation and change. Dr. Maté’s experience, eloquence, insights and conclusions contribute to improving ourselves, our work and society.”–Ken Saffier, MD CSAM News (California Society of Addiction Medicine)