Virtual Book Club: As the Page Turns with “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”
Join us on the first and third Sunday of every month for As the Page Turns, Mountainside Chelsea’s virtual book club.
About This Event
Today’s unprecedented public health situation has made it imperative that our community stay connected socially and stimulated intellectually. What better way to solve this modern quandary than with an ‘old fashioned’ book club. Join us as we discuss designated non-weighty tomes and share our thoughts and feelings about said tomes. It’s a sure-fire way to stay engaged mentally while also supporting a very human connection.
Join us on Sunday, October 25th for our monthly book club, As The Page Turns, from 4-5:30PM. We’ll be discussing “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” by Gabor Maté, MD. Creating a balance of personal accounts and scientific evidence, this riveting book holds great value to anyone who seeks a clearer and fuller understanding of the disease of addiction, and the many forms it can take.
About the Author
Gabor Maté, M.D. is a physician who specializes in childhood development and trauma. He is renowned for his expertise on the effects of trauma, ADHD, and stress. He released his first book Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder in 1999, shattering the conventional wisdom about ADD and addressing its origins in infancy. He followed up his acclaimed work with When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, wherein he explored how stress can be tied cancers and other diseases. The following year, he released Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, which explored the long-term dangers of peer orientation among children and teens. In 2008, he released In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. In this work, Maté argues that to heal addiction, we have to go back to the beginning.
Through the popularity and acclaim of his four books, Maté has become a highly sought after keynote speaker, researched remedies for addiction recovery, and contributes op-eds to publications like the Toronto Star.
About the Book
In his bestselling nonfiction book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Mate´ debunks many misconceptions about addiction held by the general public, policy makers, and even some doctors. The book explores the idea that addiction is not an individual choice or even a medical disease. Instead, Mate´ argues that addiction is part of the core of our human experience, and can manifest through alcohol or drug dependency. But, addiction can also manifest in being a workaholic, over-eating, over-exercising, or compulsive shopping.
Using this cornerstone for his research, Mate´ explores how addictions are a coping mechanism for pain and dissatisfaction through conversations with people on Vancouver’s skid row, poetry, and personal stories. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts explores the ineffectiveness of contemporary health, the criminal justice policies that push those battling addiction further into the brink, the root causes of addiction, and even the author’s own “high-class” addictive behaviors. Most importantly, Mate´ does so in a way that keeps readers engaged and moved by the personal stories he tells.
Ready to register? Use the button at the top of this page. See you there!
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