Mental Health Gabor Maté, Addiction Expert

[Kellsee]

Why can't I tag Abbey or anyone? After I tag someone as soon as I click the next button...even spacebar...It ruins the tag because it jumps back cutting their name up

To Abbey: lmfaoooo
I think we might be sisters somehow lol. I love Jordan Peterson also. I can always relate to everything you mention. I get deep into this kind of stufd but everyone else teases me about wasting my time. I get you totally. Now I know you gotta look into Dr Andrew Huberman. One of the smartest neuroscientists I know plus he sexy af lol. Seriously tho...he's so smart it scares me a little. You need to be watching his podcasts....

 

[n3ophy7e]

Why can't I tag Abbey or anyone? After I tag someone as soon as I click the next button...even spacebar...It ruins the tag because it jumps back cutting their name up

Yeah I've had that issue on my phone (I do all my BLing on my phone these days), so I always type the whole username out to make sure it works properly. That seems to fix the problem. Try that?

 

[Opi_Kid_Rock]

I find this bloke over-hyped and also irritating. He has this fixation on the idea that any and all addictions HAVE to have some root in trauma. Obviously many traumatized people wind up addicted to one thing or another in an attempt to compensate for / cope with present or past suffering. But then there's people who never significantly suffered in their life and get stuck on something because they find it literally just too much of a good thing, have obsessive appetites, or just are bored with life being 'too good' and can't think of what to do with themselves other than get off their nuts.

Another fact he routinely ignores is that while you will find proportionately more traumatized people among heavy drug users than the general population (surprise surprise, who with 3 functioning brain cells needs someone like Mate to tell them the bleeding obvious like it's some kind of revelation), the great majority of traumatized or mentally ill people are NOT also heavy drug users. Insisting on trying to reduce a complex and highly individualistic human behaviour to one single absolute 'cause' is not scientific.

It's good that BL allows for differing opinions without censorship given the times. So you agree that because some people who have trouble coping with particular emotions end up seeking out or being led to addictive behaviors in their attempt to cope; yes that's what Dr. Mate is saying. Dr. Mate does not limit addictions to substance addictions, in fact he defines addiction quite broadly.
Dr. Mate is more of a promoter of the Psychosocial perspective which he says is lacking in most of the professional fields of Western Medicine and many other fields. In Medicine, many but not all the time, are they overly concerned with treating only the symptom of pain or discomfort and not looking at the human being from that broader Psychosocial perspective. Under the current constraints of modern life, humans are often quite isolated from the sense of community and one another. We are placed under pressures to work under almost impossible circumstances such as maximizing profit for our employer day in and day out while expecting us to feel satisfied and healthy after all of it. Our diets in modern day life are quite horrible leading to so many diseases like Cancer and Diabetes. Instead of looking at the human being simply from their most pressing issue, why not look at us as a result of the Physical, Psychological, and Social perspective. If these conclusions are so obvious, then why are they not adopted by more professions that purport to want to help us get better? That is why I'm guessing Dr. Mate is repeating his message and trying to create awareness of some of the defects of doing things the same way as we've always done.
I will conclude by referring to my BL signature.

Peace.

 

[Kellsee]

It's good that BL allows for differing opinions without censorship given the times. So you agree that because some people who have trouble coping with particular emotions end up seeking out or being led to addictive behaviors in their attempt to cope; yes that's what Dr. Mate is saying. Dr. Mate does not limit addictions to substance addictions, in fact he defines addiction quite broadly.
Dr. Mate is more of a promoter of the Psychosocial perspective which he says is lacking in most of the professional fields of Western Medicine and many other fields. In Medicine, many but not all the time, are they overly concerned with treating only the symptom of pain or discomfort and not looking at the human being from that broader Psychosocial perspective. Under the current constraints of modern life, humans are often quite isolated from the sense of community and one another. We are placed under pressures to work under almost impossible circumstances such as maximizing profit for our employer day in and day out while expecting us to feel satisfied and healthy after all of it. Our diets in modern day life are quite horrible leading to so many diseases like Cancer and Diabetes. Instead of looking at the human being simply from their most pressing issue, why not look at us as a result of the Physical, Psychological, and Social perspective. If these conclusions are so obvious, then why are they not adopted by more professions that purport to want to help us get better? That is why I'm guessing Dr. Mate is repeating his message and trying to create awareness of some of the defects of doing things the same way as we've always done.
I will conclude by referring to my BL signature.

Peace.

Very well said❤

"Not all addictions are rooted in abuse or trauma, but I do believe they can all be traced to painful experience. A hurt is at the centre of all addictive behaviours. It is present in the gambler, the Internet addict, the compulsive shopper and the workaholic. The wound may not be as deep and the ache not as excruciating, and it may even be entirely hidden—but it’s there. As we’ll see, the effects of early stress or adverse experiences directly shape both the psychology and the neurobiology of addiction in the brain"
Gabor Mate

 

[hylite]

ty. this will help me through my day. my bad one. !!

 

[Fiori di Bella]

As the daughter of a psychologist mother and a psychiatrist father, I believe they each would have a different answer as to whether psychology is an art or a science.

My mother would definitely argue that psychology is a science. My dad would often say that psychology + psychiatry are arts, and while science-based, once one’s studying is over, and the practice of these begins, the art of psychology + psychiatry will inevitably take hold and grow.

My father specialized in addiction medicine, which was ironic as he was a poly-substance abuser himself. He related stories of some patients that claimed they simply had an interest in trying certain drugs and later found themselves unable to discontinue their use. But the vast share of the addicts he treated were using drugs to escape pervasive thoughts and feelings brought on by past trauma, unfavorable experiences and unfortunate misadventures.

 

[S.J.B.]

@The UltimateFixx, you may like this critique of Maté by Stanton Peele. I'm much more sympathetic to Peele's approach to addiction, although both of them can have a hard time admitting how speculative any "unified theory" on such a complex phenomenon is.