<p><em>New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.</em></p> <p>---</p> <p>Hidden sources of stress — and how to beat them. Also: the myth of normal, the necessity of being disillusioned, and the disutility of comparing your suffering.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Description:</strong> </p> <p>There's so much to be grateful for in modern medicine. We can all agree that we would not do as well in a world with no Advil or dentistry. And yet, our guest today, who is a renowned doctor, says modern medicine is overlooking something crucial: the pernicious impact that modern living has on our minds and bodies. In other words, we are surrounded by these hidden societal and structural sources of stress and we aren't thinking about how to treat and prevent these factors that are degrading our happiness and our immune systems. </p> <p><br /></p> <p>Dr. Gabor Maté is a bestselling author with an expertise on everything from stress to addiction to ADHD. His latest book is called, <a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture</a></p> <p><br /></p> <p><em>Content Warning: This episode has mentions of child abuse, sexual trauma, suicide and addiction</em></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>In this episode we talk about:</strong></p> <ul> <li>What he means by "the myth of normal"</li> <li>How diseases, such as autoimmune conditions, are an "artifact of civilization"</li> <li>How to begin to tackle what Dr. Maté calls, "the social sources of illness" </li> <li>His definition of trauma and the difference between "big T traumatic events" and the trauma of "wounding"</li> <li>How trauma in society is so normalized that we don't even recognize it</li> <li>Whether the term trauma is overused</li> <li>Why comparing suffering is a fruitless endeavor </li> <li>What he means by "the necessity to be disillusioned" </li> <li>The power and possibility of psychedelics </li> <li>Why he thinks we should incorporate shamanic medicine into our western medical framework</li> <li>And what he means by "undoing self-limiting beliefs" and how these beliefs show up in our everyday lives</li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/gabor-mate-586" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/gabor-mate-archive</a></p> <p><strong>Where to find Gabor Maté online: </strong></p> <p>Website: <a href="https://drgabormate.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">drgabormate.com</a></p> <p>Social Media:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/drgabormate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/drgabormate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/gabormatemd/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsRF06lSFA8zV9L8_x9jzIA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Books Mentioned:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture</a></li> <li><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/when-the-body-says-no/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection</a></li> <li><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/scattered-minds/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder</a></li> <li><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction </a></li> <li><a href="https://drgabormate.com/book/hold-on-to-your-kids/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Other Resources Mentioned:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Wisdom of Trauma </a></li> <li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31488422/#:~:text=Women%20with%20high%20PTSD%20symptoms,)%2C%201.12%2D3.95%5D." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Is Associated with Increased Risk of Ovarian Cancer: A Prospective and Retrospective Longitudinal Cohort Study</a></li> <li><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21149651/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Decrease in depression symptoms is associated with longer survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer: a secondary analysis</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6203030_Marital_Status_Marital_Strain_and_Risk_of_Coronary_Heart_Disease_or_Total_Mortality_The_Framingham_Offspring_Study" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marital Status, Marital Strain, and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease or Total Mortality: The Framingham Offspring Study</a></li> <li><a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.11.2039" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Engel</a></li> <li><a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/spanking-children-may-impair-their-brain-development/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How spanking may affect brain development in children</a></li> <li><a href="http://markepsteinmd.com/?p=56" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Trauma of Everyday Life</em> by Dr. Mark Epstein</a></li> <li><a href="https://drdansiegel.com/book/intraconnected-mwe-me-we-as-the-integration-of-self-identity-and-belonging/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>IntraConnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging</em> by Dr. Dan Siegel</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.diamondapproach.org/almaas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A. H. Almaas</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Sign up for Dan's weekly newsletter</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3QtGRqJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Follow Dan on social:</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Instagram</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>TikTok</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Ten Percent Happier online</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/46TZglY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>bookstore</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Subscribe to our</strong> <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>YouTube Channel</strong></a></p> <p><strong>Our favorite playlists on:</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3Qa8kMT" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Anxiety</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3MjtMxF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Sleep</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QvyA5J" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Relationships</strong></a><strong>,</strong> <a href="https://spoti.fi/3QxZASc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Most Popular Episodes</strong></a></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Additional Resources:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: <a href="https://10percenthappier.app.link/install" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://10percenthappier.app.link/install</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p>
Actionable Insights
1. Reconnect with Authentic Self
The individual task for healing trauma is to reconnect with the self that trauma disconnected from us, as the essence of trauma is a disconnection from one’s authentic self.
2. Understand Trauma’s True Nature
Reframe your understanding of trauma: it is not the bad thing that happened to you, but rather the psychological wound that occurred inside you as a result of what happened.
3. Cultivate Self-Compassion
Practice self-compassion and recognize when you are not being compassionate to yourself, as a lack of self-compassion is a typical marker of trauma.
4. Embrace Personal Agency
Take charge of yourself and your health, moving beyond being subject to experts or unconscious emotional dynamics to actively promote your well-being.
5. Practice Acceptance
Recognize and accept how things truly are, rather than merely tolerating them, as expressing your feelings about reality (even if unhappy) can positively affect your health.
6. Live Authentically
Reconnect with your authentic self by setting boundaries and saying ’no’ when necessary, because suppressing your true feelings and desires can lead to physical and mental illness.
7. Express Healthy Anger
Allow for healthy anger as a boundary defense, as suppressing it can also suppress your immune system and make you more prone to autoimmune diseases.
8. Cultivate Awareness
Develop awareness as it is a necessary foundation for practicing agency, acceptance, authenticity, and healthy anger in your life.
9. Practice Ordinary Compassion
Cultivate your capacity to recognize and feel bad about the suffering of other people, as this is the first level of compassion.
10. Seek Compassionate Understanding
Go beyond feeling bad for others by seeking to understand the underlying reasons for their suffering, such as trauma, to foster deeper compassion.
11. Recognize Shared Humanity
Practice the compassion of recognition by seeing yourself in others’ struggles and acknowledging your own capacity for similar human vulnerabilities and behaviors.
12. Commit to Compassionate Truth
Be committed to the truth in your interactions, but always deliver it compassionately, as people are more willing to face difficult truths when compassion is present.
13. See Possibility in Others
Look beyond people’s current behaviors or appearances to see their essential humanity, goodness, and inherent capacity for healing and transformation.
14. Undo Self-Limiting Beliefs
Identify and actively work to undo self-limiting beliefs (e.g., needing to prove your worth, needing external validation) that stem from trauma and restrict your capacity to be fully alive.
15. Identify ‘No’ Difficulties
Perform a self-inquiry exercise: identify situations where you have difficulty saying ’no,’ reflect on the impact of not saying ’no,’ and uncover the underlying limiting beliefs driving this behavior.
16. Engage in Emotional Work
Undertake emotional work through therapy or rigorous self-examination to liberate yourself from the strings of traumatic imprints.
17. Prioritize Relational Work
Engage in relational work, especially in close relationships like marriage, by choosing to be a partner and taking responsibility rather than being ‘right’ or a ‘victim’.
18. Incorporate Spiritual Work
Integrate spiritual work into your life, even if challenging, as it is an important theme for personal healing and connection.
19. Recognize Mind-Body Unity
Understand that mind and body are inseparable, meaning emotional factors significantly affect your immune system, hormonal apparatus, nervous system, and overall physiology.
20. Balance Four Quadrants of Health
Seek health by connecting and balancing all four quadrants of well-being: the mental (intellectual and emotional), the social, the physical, and the spiritual.
21. Embrace Disillusionment
Accept the necessity to be disillusioned by facing and accepting the truth about your own life and society, rather than clinging to false views of reality.
22. Recognize Interconnection
Understand that our inner selves are connected with everything in the world, and healing involves recognizing our sociality as biopsychosocial creatures.
23. Consider Psychedelic-Assisted Healing
Explore psychedelics, with the right setting and guidance, as a potential tool to remove the membrane between the conscious and unconscious, allowing you to process difficult emotions and see your true, connected nature.
24. Explore Shamanic Medicine
Consider incorporating insights and practices from traditional shamanic medicines, which offer valuable approaches to chronic mental and physical health issues where Western medicine may fall short.
25. Address Social Sources of Illness
Work to tackle the social sources of illness, such as inequality, racism, and the false belief in human nature as purely competitive, aggressive, selfish, greedy, and individualistic.
26. Advocate for Trauma Education
Champion the incorporation of trauma education into medical, pedagogical, and legal fields to ensure professionals understand the mind-body unity and the profound impact of trauma on health and behavior.
27. Question Societal Norms
Challenge what is considered ’normal’ in society, as many societal norms are neither healthy nor natural and can contribute to widespread illness.
28. View Illness as Environmental Response
Shift your perspective to recognize that pathology is often a normal response to abnormal environmental and social circumstances, rather than merely an individual misfortune.