From Tom:

Interview excerpt:

DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, the hardcore drug addicts 
that I treat, but according to all studies in the 
States, as well, are, without exception, people 
who have had extraordinarily difficult lives. And 
the commonality is childhood abuse. In other 
words, these people all enter life under 
extremely adverse circumstances. Not only did 
they not get what they need for healthy 
development, they actually got negative 
circumstances of neglect. I don’t have a single 
female patient in the Downtown Eastside who 
wasn’t sexually abused, for example, as were many 
of the men, or abused, neglected and abandoned serially, over and over again.

And that’s what sets up the brain biology of 
addiction. In other words, the addiction is 
related both psychologically, in terms of 
emotional pain relief, and neurobiological development to early adversity.

Link to transcript: 
<http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/3/addiction>http<http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/3/addiction>://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/3/addiction 



www.peoplewho.org