In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Drawing on years of work with addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Maté rejects the idea that addiction is a moral failing or a simple matter of chemistry. He traces it instead to early trauma and emotional pain, showing how the same roots run through both street drugs and the socially accepted compulsions most of us carry. Compassionate and unflinching, it reframes the question from why the addiction to why the pain.