BB editor’s note to Prosperos Deans Emeriti Thane Walker and Al Haferkamp: “In the Lakota tradition, when somebody gets ill, the community says, ‘Thank you. Your illness represents some disfunction in our whole community because we are not separate. Your body is not separate from your mind and your mind is not separate from the rest of our minds. . . . So your illness represents some disfunction, some imbalance in our whole community. So your healing is our healing. How can we support you?’”

–Traditional indigenous way of looking at illness as shared by Gabor Maté

Democracy Now! Sep 16, 2022 In an extended interview, acclaimed physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté discusses his new book, just out, called “The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture.” “The very values of a society are traumatizing for a lot of people,” says Maté, who argues in his book that “psychological trauma, woundedness, underlies much of what we call disease.” He says healing requires a reconnection between the mind and the body, which can be achieved through cultivating a sense of community, meaning, belonging and purpose. Maté also discusses how the healthcare system has harmfully promoted the “mechanization of birth,” how the lack of social services for parents has led to “a massive abandonment of infants,” and how capitalism has fueled addiction and the rise of youth suicide rates. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at https://democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Support independent media: https://democracynow.org/donate Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe