Gabor Maté

For other people named a similar name, see Gábor Máté and Gábor Máthé.

Gabor Maté CM (/ˈɡɑːbɔːr ˈmɑːteɪ/ GAH-bor MAH-tay;^[1] born January 1944) is a Canadian physician and author. He has a background in family practice and a special interest in childhood development and trauma,^[2] and their potential long-term effects on physical and mental health, including autoimmune diseases, cancer, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),^[3] and addictions.

Gabor Maté CM
Maté in 2013
Born	January 1944 (age 81) Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary
Citizenship	Canada
Education	University of British Columbia (BA, MD)
Spouse	Rae Maté ​ (m. 1969)​
Children	3, including Aaron
Scientific career
Fields	Substance dependence ADHD Psychology
Website	drgabormate.com

Maté's approach to addiction emphasizes the role of trauma in the development of substance use disorders, aiming to address underlying emotional pain as part of recovery.^[4] In his book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, Maté discusses the forms of trauma experienced by people with addictions and how these experiences influence behaviour and decision-making in later life.^[5]

He has written five books exploring topics including ADHD, stress, developmental psychology, and addiction.

Early life

Maté was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1944 to a Jewish family.^[6][7] His maternal grandparents, Josef Lövi and Hannah Lövi, who came from the town of Košice in modern eastern Slovakia, were killed in Auschwitz when he was five months old.^[7] His aunt disappeared during the war, and his father endured forced labour at the hands of the Nazi Party.^[8] When he was one year old, Maté's mother put him in the care of a stranger for over five weeks to save his life. Upon their reunion, the infant Maté was so hurt that he avoided looking at his mother for several days. He claims this trauma of "abandonment, rage, and despair" continues to manifest itself in his adult life, leading to similar altercations when he perceives a threat of abandonment, especially from his wife.^[9]

In 1956, the Maté family immigrated to Canada.^[7] He was a student during the Vietnam War era in the late 1960s^[10] and graduated with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Career

After working as a high school English and literature teacher for several years, Maté returned to the University of British Columbia to obtain his M.D. in general family practice in 1977.^[11]

Maté ran a private family practice in East Vancouver, Canada, for over 20 years. He was the medical coordinator of the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital for seven years.^[12]

For twelve years, Maté was the staff physician for the Portland Hotel Society, a supportive housing nonprofit organization originally based in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He regularly visited tenants in their rooms at the society's various housing projects. A majority of his patients had co-occurring mental health and substance use issues, in addition to chronic health concerns such as HIV.^[13]

Working alongside Portland founder and Canadian nurse Liz Evans, Maté helped develop and advance harm reduction and housing first initiatives supported by the organization, including needle exchange and supervised injection programs. In treating the Portland's tenants for addictions to heroin and other drugs, Mate's approach differed from that of most other medical professionals of the day. For example, Mate prescribed the opioid agonist methadone without requiring or encouraging patients to participate in treatment or therapy sessions, and he did not suspend a patient's methadone prescription if they tested positive for illicit opioids.^[14] He described his experiences working at the Portland and treating people with substance use disorders in his 2009 book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.^[15]

In 2008, Maté made national headlines when he defended the physicians working at Insite, a legally supervised injection facility, after federal Minister of Health Tony Clement criticized them as unethical.^[16]

In 2010, Maté became interested in the traditional Amazonian plant medicine ayahuasca and its potential for treating addictions. He partnered with a Peruvian Shipibo ayahuasquero (traditional shamanic healer) and began leading multi-day retreats for addiction treatment, including ones in a Coast Salish First Nations community that were the subject of an observational study by health researchers from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. Although preliminary and limited by the observational study design, the research results showed that participants had significant improvements in some psychological measures and reductions in problematic substance use, suggesting that Maté's claims of therapeutic efficacy may be well-founded.^[17] However, when the Canadian Federal Government learned about Maté's work with ayahuasca in 2011, Health Canada threatened to refer the matter to the RCMP if he did not immediately stop his activities with the illegal drug.^[18]

Writings and views

Medicine

In his books and lectures, Maté emphasizes the role of biopsychosocial aspects of pathology and the role of psychological trauma and stress. He underlines the importance of relations and social attachment for learning and health. His ideas are consistent with a trauma-informed care framework.^[19][20]

Maté defines addiction as the use of any behaviour or substance to relieve pain in the short term, that leads to negative consequences in the long term. Without addressing the root cause of the pain, a person may try to stop but will ultimately crave further relief and be prone to relapse. By this definition, many things in modern culture have the potential to become addictive, such as gambling, sex, food, work, social media, and drugs.^[6] He argues the "war on drugs" actually punishes people for having been abused and entrenches addiction more deeply, as studies show that stress is the biggest driver of addictive relapse and behaviour.^[15] He says a system that marginalizes, ostracizes, and institutionalizes people in facilities with no care and easy access to drugs, only worsens the problem.^[15][21]

In a live-streamed interview with Prince Harry in March 2023, Maté diagnosed the prince publicly with PTSD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression, based on his conversation with him and reading his autobiography, Spare. During the chat, Maté told Prince Harry that he had diagnosed him with ADD after reading through his book and hearing about his life experiences.^[22][23][24] His decision to do so was described as unorthodox and reckless by some critics.^[25]

Professional disagreements

Stanton Peele, psychologist and psychotherapist, disagrees with Maté's notion of "trac[ing] every case of addiction back to childhood trauma." Peele writes that Maté, whom he still admired for his work with Insite, where he also had worked, offers "a reductionist vision of addiction".^[26]

James C. Coyne, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that Maté "urges us to abandon what has evolved to be evidence-based solutions to health and social problem," although conceding that "overspecialization in research and clinical practice is an important issue".^[27] Nick Haslam, of the University of Melbourne, found "Maté's focus on trauma as the singular primary cause of ill health is unbalanced".^[28] Vincenzo Di Nicola, professor at the University of Montreal, wrote that while many of his views are acceptable and based on "well-trod ground", some of his work is not evidence-based.^[29]

Israel and Palestine

In July 2014, Maté published an opinion piece titled “Beautiful Dream of Israel Has Become a Nightmare,” in which he argued that Israeli policies were incompatible with a just peace and that the situation in Gaza could not be understood without its broader context.^[30] He drew comparisons between Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto, highlighting what he described as a severe imbalance of power.^[30]

In November 2023, Maté was interviewed by broadcaster Piers Morgan, during which he stated that he had cried daily for two weeks following a visit to Gaza. He called for an end to the occupation and persecution of Palestinians, and for the return of land occupied since 1967.^[31]

Personal life

In 1969, Maté married artist and fellow UBC graduate Rae Maté (born 1948). Together, they have three children, including journalist Aaron Maté.^[32]

Awards

• 2009: Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction for In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.
• 2011: the Civic Merit Award of the City of Vancouver "for his extensive work on addiction treatment and his contributions to understanding mental health and youth related to addiction, stress and childhood development".^[33]
• 2018: member of the Order of Canada.^[34]
• 2023: Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature for the book The Myth of Normal, which he co-authored with his son Daniel. The citation for the award said, "The book covers topics from brain chemistry to rethinking what is deemed 'normal.' It's beautifully written and changes the modern-day discussion on health and healing".^[35]

Books

• Maté, Gabor (1999). Scattered Minds: the origins and healing of attention deficit disorder. Toronto: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0676971453. OCLC 1351186533.
• Maté, Gabor (2003). When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress. Toronto: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 9781785042225. OCLC 1079174018.
• Maté, Gabor; Neufeld, Gordon (2004). Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. Toronto: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 9780307361967. OCLC 1079174018.
• Maté, Gabor (2008). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. Toronto: A.A. Knopf. ISBN 9781785042201.
• Maté, Gabor; Maté, Daniel (2022). The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture. Toronto: A.A. Knopf Canada. ISBN 9780593083895. OCLC 1443839870.

Films and videos

• The Power of Connection. Wholehearted. 2020.
• A Masterclass for Healers. Wholehearted. 2020.
• Healing Trauma & Addiction. Wholehearted. 2020.
• Benazzo, Maurizio; Benazzo, Zaya (2021). Wisdom of Trauma. Science & Nonduality.
• Joseph, Peter (2011). Zeitgeist: Moving Forward.
• Joe Rogan (2022). Joe Rogan Experience #1869 (interview/podcast). The Joe Rogan Experience.
• Drunk on Too Much Life (Documentary). 2021.
• Why do some people become addicts and not others? (Interview). BBC Ideas. 2022.
• Gabor Maté (2022). This Is Why You Feel LOST & UNHAPPY In Life! (Change Everything) (Interview/Podcast). Interviewed by Bilyeu, Tom. Impact Theory.
• The Power of Connection & The Myth of Normal (Video Special). Wholehearted. 2022.
• Asher Penn (director) (2023). Physician, Heal Thyself (Documentary feature).