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The Myth of Normal

Trauma, Health & Healing in a Toxic Culture – The Sunday Times Bestseller

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The Myth of Normal

By: Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté
Narrated by: Daniel Maté
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The empowering book exploring the link between trauma, illness, and modern life – and how to heal your health. From the acclaimed physician and bestselling author of When The Body Says No.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD

We tend to believe that normality equals health. But in today’s modern world, rising rates of anxiety, depression, addiction and chronic illness suggest otherwise. So, what is normal – and is it making us unwell?

In this life-affirming book, Dr Gabor Maté connects the dots between trauma, mental health, and physical illness, showing how our health is shaped by the pressures and expectations of modern life.

Drawing on decades of clinical experience, and real-life stories of people transforming their bodies and minds, Dr Gabor Maté offers a compassionate and hopeful path to healing, self-awareness and emotional wellbeing.

In The Myth of Normal, you’ll discover:

  • Why the illnesses of body and mind can natural responses to a toxic culture
  • How stress and emotional suppression affect the body
  • The science behind the mind-body connection in healing and wellbeing
  • A hopeful path towards resilience, balance and authenticity


Compassionate and urgent, this empowering bestseller shows how true health is possible when we are willing to embrace our authentic selves.

‘Life-changing’ Mel Robbins, bestselling author of The Let Them Theory

‘Riveting and beautifully written’ Bessel van der Kolk, bestselling author of The Body Keeps Score

‘Genuinely changed my life’ Steven Bartlett, bestselling author of Diary of A CEO

‘Intellectual and compassionate…essential reading’ Tara Westover, bestselling author of Educated

‘A wise, profound and healing work’ Johann Hari, bestselling author of Stolen Focus

‘Brilliant, compelling and groundbreaking book’ Tara Brach, bestselling author of Radical Acceptance and Radical Compassion

‘An essential compass during disorienting times.’ Esther Perel, psychotherapist, bestselling author and host of Where Should We Begin

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

 Mental Health Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Stress Management Inspiring Thought-Provoking Health Substance abuse
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Critic reviews

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
Wise, sophisticated, rigorous and creative: an intellectual and compassionate investigation of who we are and who we may become
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
An astonishing achievement, epic in scope and yet profoundly down-to-earth and practical. I will read this book again and again
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
A book in which readers can seek refuge and solace during moments of profound personal and social crisis
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
A compelling book that will challenge your views and help lift the veil of illusion to what is truly happening in your mind and in your body
Gripping ... a powerful call for change in how we live with, love, understand, treat, and think about each other
Dr Maté has completely transformed how the world sees, talks about and understands trauma. And he has absolutely had that impact on me and it's been life-changing.
All stars
Most relevant
Fascinating book with very insightful thoughts on education. However the narration grows increasingly annoying with the unnecessary use of accents when quoting other people.

Insightful

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As always, inspiring, deep and thought provoking ideas and stories from Gábor Mate. I enjoyed Daniel’s narration and contribution to this book.

Loved it!

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Gabor Maté has done it again with the brilliant book which explores how trauma impacts us all and society as a whole. Learning to understand responses to trauma and allowing the blinkers to fall away means that we can better support ourselves and others but also become advocates for those who don’t yet have a voice.
My only problem with this book was Daniels reading of some of the parts where he was quoting an English person or an Irish woman, he tried to copy the accent and it just sounded forced and jarring. I would have preferred him to use his own voice!

A book I wish everyone would read

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The key to moving forward and improving things is understanding the past and what might hold us back. This book is exactly that - it’s a deep dive into how our worldwide culture has grown toxic over time, and is now considered “normal”, impacting every individual. It looks at generational trauma, chronic disease, and the body mind connection.

By all means, it’s an emotionally difficult book, that might challenge or expose your core beliefs and behaviors. It took me long time to read it because sometimes I couldn’t handle it, but every chapter is full of invaluable wisdom. Every time I went back to listening I could not believe how accurate, insightful and relevant to current times this book is!

A book everyone should read

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I am a follower of Gabor Mate’s work having read everything he has written. I was looking forward to being read to this time but had to turn off after hearing Daniel Mate’s strange and slightly comical silly accents whilst reading. Did he really have to put on a French accent whilst quoting a French researcher? Or put on a high pitched voice when quoting women and deep voice when quoting men? (I found this especially condescending)
Such a shame. Thankfully I bought the book to read for myself.

Fantastic book but what’s with the silly voices?

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