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You're listening to the nocturnous conversations.

I'm Emily Silverman.

In medicine, we usually think of diseases as abnormal.

ALS, MS, Crohn's disease, breast cancer, these are all pathologies that need to be

fixed, cured, or at least managed over time. But today's guest, Dr. Gabor Mate, argues

that these diseases are actually a normal and even expected response to the highly abnormal way that we live our lives.

Yes, we all come to the table with a different genetic endowment, but more than our genetics,

Gabor argues, chronic disease is driven by the way we eat, work, interact with each other or

don't, the way that we were raised and treated by our parents,

and perhaps most profoundly, the way that we relate to ourselves.

Gabor elucidates this argument in his latest book, which he co-wrote with his son, Daniel Matei.

It's called The Myth of Normal, Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a toxic culture.

You may have already heard of Gabor Matei. He's a tremendous figure in the medical world,

a renowned speaker, best-selling author, highly sought after a person for his expertise on a range

of topics, including childhood development, stress, and addiction. He's written several best-selling books, including the award-winning in the realm of hungry

ghosts, close encounters with addiction, and his co-authored a book called Hold On to Your Kids,

Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, and his works have been published internationally

in nearly 30 languages.

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