Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience
as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely
addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, In the Realm of Hungry
Ghosts radically 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.

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts argues
persuasively against contemporary health, social, and criminal justice
policies toward addiction and those impacted by it. The mix of personal
stories—including the author’s candid discussion of his
own "high-status" addictive tendencies—and science
with positive solutions makes the book equally useful for lay readers
and professionals.