photo credit: Richard Quick
Dr. Gabor Maté's writing and videos have caused me to look at my environment in a different way. Watching people react to the pandemic, I’ve wondered why some folks survive and thrive, while others seem to shrink and retreat into fearful ways of living. Dr. Maté has caused me to ask what behaviors children are exhibiting in reaction to trauma inflicted upon them by our society — shootings in school, the fear they are taught to exhibit toward anything outside their homes — worse yet, the fear precipitated inside their homes. And what of our adults? Trauma from childhood has affected far too many of us. We don’t know how to handle the abuses from family, friends, teachers and others in positions of authority. What if we recognized the source of mass shootings and other horrendous crimes? It’s too easy to say the cause is video games, mass media, and violent cartoons. What if we admitted it’s early childhood trauma which we have no idea how to assimilate, translate, and release? It’s time for each and every one of us to delve into the teachings of people like Gabor Maté and others who understand what is happening to us. If I am able to recognize the reactions to trauma in all its forms, perhaps I can release my own and allow others to have the courage to recognize theirs and see where that realization takes them. Namaste, my friends...
“So much of what we call abnormality in this culture is actually normal responses to an abnormal culture. The abnormality does not reside in the pathology of individuals, but in the very culture that drives people into suffering and dysfunction.” — Dr. Gabor Maté
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