Gabor Mate's Embraced By The Needle: Article Analysis

The seemingly endless cycle of addiction is said to be caused by the absence of natural anesthetics. Gabor Maté, a physician working for a non-profit harm-reduction facility, describes addictions as pain numbing substitutes. Addictions provide comfort to individuals who previously experienced deficient amounts of the pleasure neurotransmitter, dopamine. Additionally, stress, unhappiness, and the desire for a warm hug, causes individuals to resort to the consequential savior of drugs and alcohol. The inability to manage pain and mood is directly related to the amount of endorphins individuals produce within their body. As stated in Maté’s article Embraced by the Needle (2016), “endorphins are released when there are warm, non-stressed, calm

Both the abusers and addicts are often unaware how their past is influencing their current behavior. Childhood histories influence current coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, and depression; this inability to deal with intrapersonal problems results in poor parent-child relationships. The cycle of poor parenting resulting in an individual attain an addiction, is then repeated over again with the child lacking emotionally rewarding, endorphin-liberating interactions. Throughout the article, Maté accentuates how the cause of addiction is strictly due to pain, either hidden or evident; this idea should be supported. While many individuals turn to drugs and alcohol as recreational activities, the ones who become frequent users find substances have a greater purpose than entertainment. The uninformed public place individuals associated with drug addiction into a stereotype; they are sketchy, unpredictable, and often a danger to themselves and others. False. “Chemical and emotional vulnerability are the products of life experience, according to current brain research and developmental psychology” (Maté, 2016), meaning the cause of the addiction is rarely at

The author, Gabor Maté discusses two of his clients whom he worked with at the Portland. After comprehending the article, elaboration would be useful for: the most effective treatment for addiction, as well as the success rate versus the relapse rate. Knowing this information could potentially spark hope in individuals who find hopeless in overcoming their past. There is always the possibility for recovery. Another reoccurring question that appeared was, what about the special cases? Often times parents pass emotional baggage to their children, but the children are able to emerge from the wreckage, stronger and more willing. Or vice versa, parents could be protective and loving throughout every aspect of their child’s life, yet the child resorts to addiction. How can these be explained? The article revealed an interesting point on how drugs themselves are not addictive. The fact is, it relies on the person’s vulnerability and unhappiness combined with the drug; this makes the substance addictive. In the past, students, along with the vulnerable population, are taught that an addictive substance is addictive after the first time. But if it needs emotional and chemical vulnerability as well, is it possible