Gabor Maté is known in Canada as a successful doctor and writer. During his career, he studied child development, trauma as well as the impacts on human physical and mental health resulting in autoimmune diseases, cancer, hyperactivity, etc.
Learn more about him at ivancouver. (Source: drgabormate.com)
Difficult childhood
Gabor Maté was born in Budapest in 1944. His maternal grandparents were killed in Auschwitz and his father endured forced labour from the Nazis.
When Gabor was one year old, his mother gave him to a stranger to save her child’s life. Later, the man recalled that when he was reunited with his mother, he felt resentment for her leaving him.
Education
In 1956, Gabor Maté emigrated to Canada. There, he entered the University of British Columbia and received a B.A.
After that, Gabor taught English language and literature to schoolchildren for several years. However, he decided to become a student again to get a M.D.
Medical activity
Gabor Maté ran a private family practice in Vancouver for more than 20 years. He was also offered the position of medical coordinator of the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital.
In addition, for 12 years, Gabor was a doctor at Portland Hotel (a residence and resource centre), which is located in the central part of Vancouver.
Patients
Many of Gabor’s patients, in addition to chronic illnesses, also had mental health problems and substance abuse.
In one of his books, Maté described his experience working with patients who had mental problems caused by substance abuse.
New treatment method
In 2010, Gabor Maté learned about traditional Amazonian herbal medicine, which helps treat various addictions. He even began working with a shamanic healer and conducted multi-day retreats to treat patients with various addictions.
Gabor’s observational study focused primarily on the indigenous peoples of the Coast Salish. Even though the study’s results were preliminary and strictly limited by the observational research design, it showed that Mate’s position on the effectiveness of such treatment was justified. The psychological indicators of the research participants became much better.
Scientific position
Importantly, Gabor Maté’s books and lectures contain a lot of information about the fact that biopsychosocial aspects of pathology, psychological trauma and stress have a huge impact on human health.
Maté notes that relationships and social attachment are also very important for health and learning.
According to him, addiction is a behaviour or substance, which is used to relieve pain quickly. However, it leads to long-term negative consequences. If the cause of the pain isn’t eliminated, a person may try to fight an addiction, but, as a rule, they will seek further relief. In turn, it leads to relapse.
Modern culture has a lot of things that can cause addiction. Some of them are food, sex, drugs, social networks and gambling.
According to Maté, the fight against drugs actually punishes a person for having been abused. Thus, an addiction becomes even more entrenched. Gabor claims that the main reason for addiction relapse is stress. The system that is used to sending people to institutions with insufficient care and easy access to drugs is making the situation only worse.
Photo source: independent.ie, yesmagazine.org