Gabor Maté: Finding Our TRUE Selves in a Crazy World
In our society when rates of mental and physical illness are on the rise, despite advanced modern medicine, we must look within to ask where we are going wrong. Dr. Gabor Maté is back on The Know Thyself Podcast today, for a deep dive into his analysis of our toxic culture, and how we can heal by finding our true, authentic selves. He explains how to transcend the hypnotic passivity that we have fallen into, and begin to take our health (mental and physical) into our own hands. He explains generational trauma, ignorance in the medical system, and how the coping mechanisms we develop as children lead to detrimental subconscious patterns. He also explains overcoming addiction, emotional awareness, and whether he believes there is a 'divine design' in all our wounding.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
What’s really making us sick and how we begin to heal
Dr Gabor Maté offers a powerful exploration of how trauma, stress, and emotional suppression shape not only our mental health but also our physical well-being. In a culture that normalizes dysfunction, true healing begins with awareness, compassion, and a return to the authentic self
We live in a culture that normalizes dysfunction
What we call normal in modern society — overwork, disconnection, emotional repression — is actually deeply harmful. Many of our personal struggles are not signs of failure but symptoms of a culture out of alignment with human needs.
Addiction is not the problem it’s a response to pain
Addiction is a coping mechanism for unresolved emotional wounds. Instead of asking why the addiction, Dr Maté encourages us to ask why the pain. Compassion, not judgment, is the foundation of healing.
Trauma is not what happens to you it’s what happens inside you
Trauma isn’t just the event but the internal response to it. It disconnects us from ourselves. Many of the behaviors and patterns we struggle with today were once adaptive responses to unsafe environments.
The body speaks when the mind stays silent
When we suppress emotion, especially anger, the body often expresses it through illness. Chronic stress and emotional repression can manifest physically. Listening to the body is an essential part of healing.
Healing is coming home to who you really are
The goal is not to become someone new but to remember and reconnect with the self that existed before trauma — the part of us that is sensitive, creative, and whole. Vulnerability and authenticity are not weaknesses, they are gateways to healing.
