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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Close Encounters with Addiction

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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

By: Gabor Maté
Narrated by: Daniel Maté
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook edition of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté, read by Daniel Maté.


The award-winning bestseller on the root causes of addiction – and how to heal it – from the author of When the Body Say No, Dr Gabor Maté

What causes addiction? And how can we truly heal from it?

In his profound and compassionate book, leading voice in trauma and addiction recovery, Dr Gabor Maté, explores the psychology of addiction and the path to self-understanding and healing.

As one of the world’s most revered thinkers on the psychology of addiction, his radical findings – based on decades of work with patients challenged by catastrophic drug addiction and mental illness – are reframing how we view?all?human development.

In his groundbreaking work, now updated with a new chapter on the Opioid crisis, Maté takes a holistic and compassionate approach to addiction, whether to alcohol, drugs, sex, money or anything self-destructive. He presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to a weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs through (and even underpins) our society; not as a medical ‘condition’, but rather the result of a complex interplay of personal history, emotional development, and brain chemistry.

Distilling cutting-edge research from around the world, Maté avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness.

Blending personal stories and science with positive solutions, and written in spellbinding prose, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is a compassionate must-read that has transformed how we think about healing, trauma, and addiction.

‘[Maté] is a healer to be cherished’ Naomi Klein, bestselling author of The Shock Doctrine

'One of the most important, wise and compassionate voices in the world on addiction. Everyone should read this profound book' Johann Hari, author of Lost Connections

© Gabor Maté 2018 (P) Penguin Audio 2018

Addiction & Recovery Brain & Nervous System Personal Development Personal Success Physical Illness & Disease Mental Health Health Inspiring Substance abuse Emotions Human Brain Medicine

Critic Reviews

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
Gabor Maté is one of the most important, wise and compassionate voices in the world on addiction. Everyone should read this profound book
I recommend this wonderful book for anyone struggling with the heartache of addiction personally or professionally. Gabor Maté makes the thought-provoking and powerful arguments that human connections heal; and that the poverty of relationships in the modern world contribute 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
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
In its sheer force, originality and deep scholarship, this book represents a landmark in the theory, treatment and prevention of addictive disorders. No-one seriously interested in this subject can afford not to be aware of what it says about addiction and how we should respond to it
An insightful, multilayered discussion of the nature of addiction generally, and our society’s epidemic of addictions in particular
All stars
Most relevant
Great, very honest and insightful. No gimmicks, just true and personal stories about addiction. Finished listening in a few days!

Honest!

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loved it thank you so much for your service to the aid community much love and respect

incredible read for anyone in the aid feild

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was a very interesting insight into addicts and addiction...my life has been touch by addicted people and I have always searched to understand. This book is a must read if you are searching for answers on why and how people get addicted

Fascinating a real eye opener

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This book centres around people’s addictive cases, but the professional advice and understanding is incredible.

Addictions - Guidance - Resolves

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Thank you for your me beautiful book Gabor. We can only hope that that this research and information gets through to mainstream knowledge and policies sometime soon.

Amazing. Life changer. Everyone needs to read this.

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