Book Review: The Myth of Normal

2022-12-30

Has a doctor ever asked you what your childhood home was like, or if you generally feel safe in the world?

Probably never.

They should, though.

Medicine, as is now, treats humans as bodies that are misbehaving, and in need of a fix. That's the "normal" way of going about health. The experience of the person living in that body seems to have nothing to do with their maladies.

In November of this year, I read Dr. Mate's recent book, the myth of normal.

I read another book of his, When the Body Says, voraciously in a matter of days in summer of 2021. It truly changed the way I view health. In When the Body Says No, he gathers years of research on stress (physical or psychosocial) and how it contributes to illness. Mate's writing moves so beautifully in and out of numerous real life examples from his own patients, or others who shared their stories with him. People whose past traumas led to their present, ill-suited, coping tools.

Many of the concepts he unpacks in The Myth of Normal is familiar to a returning reader.

Firstly, I find it a relief when someone, anyone, recognizes that being human is complex, and is incredibly hard. And it is more so for the ones who feel deeper and perceive sharper. I find it even more hopeful when that someone is a medical doctor, whose job is to heal.

Secondly, I find it very compelling the way Mate weaves in years of scientific research with learnings on the human psyche, and the lived experience of countless people he interviewed.

I have studied, thought, worked in and discussed science for most of my adult life. The logical side of me wants to see evidence for any claim on health. When dealing with my own health problems, I used to be hellbent on figuring it all out by reading the research on my symptoms and doing experiments on myself. I almost refused to believe my emotional experience had anything to do with what was happening to my physical body.

I used to think I felt unwell because I was in bad health, only to realize I was in bad health because I felt unwell.

Reading Mate's work is like watching someone unpack the interplay between health and emotional experience, while pacifying the merciless, rationale side of me by citing a mountain of research.