Hungry ghosts

At the invitation of friends from the Sudbury Focus Community Project, I attended a special seminar hosted by the Sudbury Alcohol and Drug Concerns Coalition today.

The guest of honour, Doctor Gabor Maté, MD presented a three-hour input session entitled In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. Based on the findings reported in his book which bears the same title, Dr. Maté, mingled anecdotal information and scientific know-how rooted in his years of medical experience, both in private practice and most recently at a clinic in Vancouver's Downtown East Side to help the eager audience to question the causes for addiction, and then to come to a possible conclusion which has the potential to upset the professional thinking that has prevailed for many years.

Dr. Maté is well known in medical circles for his colums and advice and was introduced to a wider audience coutesy of a special program aired on CBC's The Fifth Estate, which focused on his clinic known as Insight, the first and only provincially funded, supervised injection site in North America. Adicts can bring their drug of choice and receive clean needles to inject themselves.

This approach to harm reduction has been frowned upon by some, seen as an abomination by others, even as it is perceived to be a haven by those who avail themselves of it's facilities.

In short, his approach is born out of a conviction that all children need to bond with adults and with other children in order to properly develop and hone the ability to socialize. When the ability to bond is compromised, the result is a wound that can affect the child in many ways, including the possibility of addictions of various kinds. Medical interventions of various sorts have had differing levels of success, but Dr. Maté believes that the key to success is found in the simple but profound reality that bonding with children (and with adults who are addicted) will help them to overcome their difficulties in a far more effective manner.

There is wisdom in these words, which have fallen on deaf ears for quite some time now, but which are increasingly listened to by medical professionals and others in various health care fields of late.

In addition to Hungry Ghosts, Dr. Maté has authored When the Body Says No, which studies the cost of hidden stress; Scattered Minds, a new look at the origins and healing of Attention Deficit Disorder; and Hold On to Your Kids, why parents need to matter more than peers.