The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

Maté now looks at the effects of society overall on our health. He argues that the socioeconomic system that defines 21st-century society, capitalism, is responsible for damaging the health of all within it by creating stress and thereby increasing the “allostatic load” (276) on human beings. The main ways it does this is by fostering “psychological factors such as uncertainty, conflict, lack of control, and lack of information” (276). Maté states that while this stress and its negative effects are unequally distributed, they do not spare any social tier, and even the wealthy are subject to them.

More specifically, the dismantling of welfare states and protections for workers since the 1970s has led to an increase in job insecurity and anxiety about maintaining living standards. These concerns have been exacerbated by the 2007-2008 financial crisis, which caused yet more uncertainty regarding employment, inequality, and greater competition for what few good jobs remained. In addition, increased costs of living, especially in relation to food, fuel, education, and healthcare, have been added stressors for many.

Maté explains how he was asked after the COVID-19 pandemic what the chief lesson of the pandemic was. His answer was “the indispensability of connection” (286).