xviii, 495 pages : 23 cm Based on Gabor Maté's two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his work with the severely addicted on Vancouver's skid row, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts reenvisions this much misunderstood field by taking a holistic approach. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout (and perhaps underpins) our society; not a medical "condition" distinct from the lives it affects, rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional, and neurological development, brain chemistry, and the drugs (and behaviors) of addiction. Simplifying a wide array of brain and addiction research findings from around the globe, the book avoids glib self-help remedies, instead promoting a thorough and compassionate self-understanding as the first key to healing and wellness. This book argues against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice policies toward addiction and those impacted by it. The mix of personal stories -- including the author's discussion of his own "high-status" addictive tendencies -- and science with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers and professionals In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is a compassionate look at drug addiction by best-selling author and physican Gabor Maté. This insightful book explores the scientific and psychological causes of addiction, as well as the impact on the addicts treated at the Downtown Eastside Vancouver clinic where Maté is a physician. He widens the lens to address the larger societal problem - speaking also to the risks of the more "high-status" addictions, such as wealth, power, and sex. He boldly challenges the War on Drugs, proposing a more holistic, constructive set of alternatives. A riveting, debate-provoking book about an illness that reaches all levels of society, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts provides a much-needed glimpse of hope from an innovator who is taking on addiction with startling clarity, vision, and wisdom. -- From back cover Includes bibliographical references (pages 450-476) and index