The Myth of Normal

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

We tend to believe that normality equals health. Yet what is the norm in the Western world?

Mental illness is on an unstoppable rise. Some 45% of Europeans suffer high blood pressure, and nearly 70% of Americans take at least one prescription drug. Illness and trauma are defining how we live.

In his new masterpiece, renowned physician, addiction expert and author Gabor Maté dissects the underlying causes of this malaise - physical and emotional, and connects the dots between our personal suffering and the pressures of modern-day living. Over four decades of clinical experience, Dr Maté has found that the common definition of 'normal' is false: virtually all disease is actually a natural reflection of life in an abnormal culture, as we grow further and further apart from our true selves. But he also shows us the pathway to reconnection and healing.

Filled with stories of people in the grip of illness or in the triumphant wake of recovery, this life-affirming book shows how true health is possible - if we are willing to embrace authenticity above social expectations. The Myth of Normal is Gabor Maté's most ambitious, compassionate and urgent book yet.

© Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • Gabor Mate takes us on an epic journey of discovery about how our emotional well-being, and our social connectivity (in short: how we live), is intimately intertwined with health, disease and addictions … This riveting and beautifully written tale has profound implications for all of our lives, including the practice of medicine and mental health

    Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score

  • Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become

    Tara Westover, author of Educated

  • A book literally everyone will be enriched by – a wise, profound and healing work that is the culmination of Dr Maté’s many years of deep and painfully accumulated wisdom

    Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus

  • An astonishing achievement, epic in scope and yet profoundly down-to-earth and practical. I will read this book again and again

    V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Vagina Monologues

  • Brilliant, compelling and groundbreaking. Gabor Maté offers us a way to bring clear seeing and a greatness of heart to the crisis of our times

    Tara Brach, author of Radical Compassion

  • A book in which readers can seek refuge and solace during moments of profound personal and social crisis

    Esther Perel, psychotherapist and author of Mating in Captivity

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