Part I
1. What is this essay about? In this essay, the author, Gabor Maté, is describing addictions, and several factors into what may cause someone to become addicted to certain substances. It also portrays how those who already have addictions function and what issues they might face in day to day life.
2. What point is the author trying to make? The point that Maté is explaining is how drugs are used as “emotional anaesthetics” (Maté, p. 1, para. 1). He describes them as being used to subdue feelings of pain, feelings of being unwanted, and loneliness due to emotional trauma, sexual assault, serial abandonment, physical and psychological abuse as well as other harmful life experiences.
3. What key ideas show the authors point? Maté…show more content… He uses personal excerpts from 4 different people - Anna, Wayne, Carl and an anonymous sex-trade worker - describing how addictions and abuse have all affected each of them in different ways. He also describes how “chemical and emotional vulnerability are the products of life experience” (Maté, p. 1, para. 4), using studies done on monkeys and rats to look at opiate and benzodiazepine receptors in the synapses of neurons and its relationship to the development of the human brain, therefore explaining our dependence on addictive substances. Maté explains how childhood sexual assaults, serial abandonment as well as physical and psychological abuse can further torment a person, creating more pain, and ultimately, more dependence on an addictive substance. Even in loving families, there are still several unseen factors such as stress, relationship problems and other “outside problems” as Maté (Maté, p. 2, para. 10) describes summarized by how every child may not feel loved, wanted or safe to be themselves, creating an atmosphere that does not allow them to come to terms with their personal and emotional turmoil’s. Maté ends his essay on a very important note, noticing how addicts cut themselves off from the world due to their guilt, blaming themselves. He ends the essay with a personal excerpt from one of the characters, describing how he is currently experiencing pain,…show more content… While their stories do have meaning to this piece, expanding on how they become dependent on a certain substance, as well as why, would also be more meaningful to this essay and, hopefully, provide further background on the effects of addictions.
4. What surprised you? The way Maté wrote this essay surprised me. He wrote it in such a sense that it was easy to comprehend, however covered and explained a very intellectual topic. His usage of imagery to make his piece livelier was also a very interesting touch.
5. What did you learn from this essay? In this essay, I learnt that many people can have both similar and different experiences in their lives that can lead to the same kinds of “escape” from reality. Often times you hear how those raised in good homes can only accomplish good things in life, while those raised in bad homes are being set up for a life filled with troubles. However, it is not always the case. Even those living the perfect American dream can still have their emotional toils, and those raised in poverty can turn out just fine. Addictions can come from many places, and sometimes, even all those places at once, something that I did not know. I was always taught that only one thing can define a person and their actions, in this case, becoming dependent on an addictive
