Gabor Maté essay “Embraced by the needle” is an enlightening viewpoint on the relationship of lack of nurture during the developmental stages of childhood, and how the effects correlate with addiction. Maté is a doctor in downtown Vancouver, this being one of Canada’s largest drug areas. He is exposed to large number of people with addiction and mental illness. In his essay he uses these experiences and personal knowledge to create a believable idea on where addictions stems from. By using patients with sympathetic stories it creates a connection to his readers, the use of statics and research examples turns his ideas into believable theory, and his real experiences within the field makes for an all-around plausible …show more content…
He highlights the suffering’s his patients (Anna and Carl) have endured throughout their lives. The author is painting a picture conveying the message drugs are not the problem, and when the subtracted the addicts still experience pain , “The methadone I prescribe for their opiate dependence does little for the emotional anguish compressed in every heartbeat of these driven souls.” (288) He’s relaying the message that he can control the hunger for the drugs, but he cannot control the pain. By having a patient’s story at the beginning and the end of the essay it’s creating a connection to the reader, the stories and the conversations seem very authentic and believable. These stories are saddening and leaves the reader with sympathy for these individuals. By starting and finishing his essay with patient’s stories it hits the reader’s heart at the beginning and the …show more content…
His work in the harm reduction center has exposed him to large numbers of addicts. Making his claims believable. By experiencing it in such a personal matter he’s sees and hears the stories people experience. By being able to prescribe methadone to control the sickness. He still see how these people are hurting. “Feeling alone, feeling there has never been anyone with whom to share their deepest emotions is universal among drug addicts.” This shows how sympathetic the doctor is to patients, he understand the hurt these people have endured. Once the methadone has been prescribes he still see the emotional issues that is almost universal in all his patients. It believable that majority of addiction comes from an outer force. You can feel how Matè truly cares for these individuals he’s treating.
All together Mates essay controls the reader with the idea sympathy, as reader you can understand if child did not receive essential binding experiences as an infant and in childhood it can lead to the vulnerability of addictive behaviour. By solidifying his experience with the concreate studies it makes a reader believe the idea that lack of nurture during brain development can lead to drug reliance. He created an idea that explains why certain groups or more predisposed to addictions in comparison to others. Making this essay a very effective explanation on why addictions