In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Gabor Mate explains how Western societies, which are proud of their healthcare systems, fail to address chronic diseases. 70% of Americans take at least one prescription drug, while in Europe, 30% of the population has been diagnosed with hypertension. At the same time, more and more teenagers around the world are suffering from mental illnesses. So, what is truly "normal" when it comes to health?

After four decades of clinical experience, Dr. Mate considers the prevailing notion of "normal" to be flawed, as this notion ignores the impact that trauma, stress, and modern lifestyle have on our health. Despite the expertise and technological advancements, Western medicine often fails to address the human being in their entirety, overlooking how daily life stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance.

Now Dr. Mate offers his own perspective, debunking common myths about what makes us sick, and linking human ailments to the declining state of the societies we live in. "The Myth of Normal" is Dr. Gabor Mate's most ambitious book - a guide to health and healing, filled with compassion and understanding.

Introduction Why Normal is a Myth (and Why it Matters)
PART I. OUR INTERCONNECTED NATURE
Chapter 1 Where You Would Never Want to Find Yourself
Chapter 2 Life in an Immaterial World
Chapter 3 You’re Shaking My Brain
Chapter 4 Everything That Surrounds Me
Chapter 5 Rebellion in the Body
Chapter 6 It’s Not One Thing
Chapter 7 A Traumatic Tension
PART II. THE DISTORTION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 8 Who We Really Are
Chapter 9 Solid or Fragile Foundations
Chapter 10 Trouble at the Threshold
Chapter 11 What Other Choice Do I Have
Chapter 12 Gardening on the Moon
Chapter 13 When the Brain is Pushed in the Wrong Direction
Chapter 14 A Pattern for Discomfort
PART III. RECONSIDERING THE ABNORMAL
Chapter 15 Just, Don’t Be Yourself
Chapter 16 Raise Your Hands
Chapter 17 The Map of Our Pain is Inaccurate
Chapter 18 Our Mind Can Do Amazing Things
PART IV. THE TOXICITIES OF OUR CULTURE
Chapter 19 From Society to the Cell
Chapter 20 Stealing the Human Spirit
Chapter 21 They Don’t Care if It Kills You
Chapter 22 The Sense of Self Under Attack
Chapter 23 The... Shock Absorbers of Society
Chapter 24 We Feel Their Pain
PART V. PATHS TO WHOLENESS
Chapter 25 The Mind Comes First
Chapter 26 Processes and Five Kinds of Compassion
Chapter 27 A Terrifying Gift
Chapter 28 Before the Body Says No
Chapter 29 See It to Not Believe It
Chapter 30 From Enemies, Friends
Chapter 31 Jesus in a Teepee
Chapter 32 My Life is Something Genuine
Chapter 33 The Deconstruction of a Myth
Acknowledgments
Notes