The Myth of Normal summary

So, we’ve seen how the conflict between attachment – our need for connection with others – and authenticity – our need to be true to ourselves – can lead to a fractured self. We suppress certain parts, like our emotions, in order to win approval or affection.

The toll this takes on our health is significant. And the key here is stress. Constantly suppressing our emotions and needs activates the stress response. To better understand this, let’s look at what happens to a body under stress.

Think back, for a moment, to high school biology. Remember the petri dish? That shallow, transparent container used for growing bacteria or fungi cultures? A petri dish can create the right environment for organisms to thrive: the perfect balance of light, temperature, and nutrients, along with an absence of toxins. If the environment is off, whatever is being cultured may not survive.

After decades of treating patients, Dr. Maté has come to see that the petri dish we live in – in other words, our culture – isn’t ideal for human flourishing. In fact, it’s toxic. It breeds the chronic stress that forms the basis of our many ailments.

Here’s the thing about a society that causes so much stress: children feel it most. That’s because parental stress easily transfers to the child. Consider a study by Sonia Lupien and colleagues, which found that a child’s stress-hormone levels rise if their mother is under economic stress.

And there’s a good reason for this. A child’s development makes them extremely sensitive to their environment. What happens in these formative years sets the foundations for everything to come – their health, brain development, and future relationships.

The template for Dr. Maté’s lifelong depression was set in his childhood. He was born into the trauma of Nazi-occupied Hungary, and his Jewish grandparents were killed in Auschwitz. His young mother, fearing for her baby’s health, sent him to live with relatives who found safer hiding conditions. But when the two were reunited later, he would not so much as look at his mother.

Today, Dr. Maté understands that his response to the trauma of separation was reasonable and adaptive. His detachment and emotional repression helped protect him against feeling such unbearable pain again, much like Mee Ok’s repressed memories of abuse.

While detoxifying our culture is beyond the scope of this Blink, there is still a lot of cause for hope. That’s because healing is possible.

For Dr. Maté, healing is the natural movement toward wholeness. If the conditions for disease begin with a separation from the self, emotions, and others, then it makes sense that one solution is to reintegrate our fractured parts. This process involves acknowledging our suffering, and the suffering of the world, and learning to confront the wounds that have caused disconnection.