Dr. Gabor Maté on Democracy Now

[flwyd]

I caught today's Democracy Now show, which collected three previous interviews with Dr. Gabor Maté. If you're interested in rethinking contemporary medicine, the hour-long program is worth a listen.

He talks about how mental and emotional health can't be separated from physical health, but since western medicine (which he also knows and practices) has a better understanding of the latter, chemical-based solutions are often applied to solve primarily social problems. For instance, in post-industrial America, many children don't get much parental attention – many companies give just six weeks of maternity leave – meaning kids miss out on important developmental processes. This often manifests later in life in damaging ways, ranging from ADHD to drug addiction to antisocial behavior.

I've been thinking recently about "ecological thinking," which I hope to write more about later, and these interviews were a good example of what I've got in mind. Short maternity leave makes sense from the short-term self-interest of the company, but a culture where the practice is widespread may, over the course of a couple generations, be significantly worse-off because its children missed out on important development.

Comments

[477150n.livejournal.com]

So I know I totally sidetracked the conversation by focusing on the example that happened to correspond to my exact situation (sort of; as a graduate student I have more flexibility than many, though no official leave, and I also recognize that I work outside the home by choice, which many don't.)

But! I really like this point about integrating physical and mental health care.

Ah, sleep deprivation -> nonlinear train of thought. To bed!