Harry and Gabor

[laurwalsh]

My friend just sent me this. I adore Gabor mate and the work he does. His book 'in the realms of hungry ghosts' was life changing for me who had suffered serious addiction issues. But am I being too harsh to feel disappointed he's jumping on this band wagon of garbage. I'm sorry but Harry we're sick of listening to your trauma and no offence you've sung it to death, (and I don't even think it's that bad relative to how much he has gone on and on about it) and trauma aside you're a complete hypocrite with how you've treated you're family and the trauma you've put them through!!

Hi all,
Apols for dropping in but we're going to ask you all to get this thread back on track sharpish, as with this amount of personal back-and-forth it's realistically just going to be deleted?

@Ooompaloopa

Where you you stand on CBD products

i’m in Ireland where a huge CAMHS scandal has erupted, largely over medication doses of anti schizophrenia drugs for children with adhd which was wrong but there was no senior diagnosing review

Luckily we went private and avoided camhs service but many children were caught up and are now in limbo. Families with vulnerable children who put their ti

CBD are being bandied around by some people and seem unregulated. I would hate for some people to think it’s an option based on the interview

(FWIW we send automated messages to Spam reports but not to the rest. That said, sometimes we use the same wording on the same kinds of reports, so that might be what you're referring to? But nothing's automated if you report something for us to have a look at, take it from us... ;D)

@Roussette , yes if you report a post for personally attacking you , you get an email saying yes or no , if you query why one of your posts are deleted, you also get an email explaining what the issue was.

I once had a post deleted for telling a poster ( who was attacking me!) To get back in her box! .
Apparently this constitutes a personal attack!

Sorry @HopeMumsnet , just answering question , will be back to topic now !
May I ask if this thread was reported?

Being a Royal, does that lend an endorsement more weight that a ‘regular celebrity’ especially as in the past working royals weren’t paid so it wasn’t a ‘paid promotion’
While milk and jewellery type things have been promoted by Zara etc, I don’t think they’ve moved into the medical space (happy to be corrected though)

OK... I will leave you all to it!

Thanks jeff for your explanation, I've never queried anything, although I have reported posts.

Good post! Real experts (as opposed to fame-hungry, money-grabbing TV 'experts') tend to closely stick to their specialty and would always defer to someone properly qualifield for anything that falls outside their particular field.

I'm a lawyer (before anyone jumps on my SPAG / lack of eloquence: I'm in a different country and English isn't my first language) who mostly does contract law and while I know a fair amount about, say, family law or criminal law, I would never advise a client on either of those. Point someone in the right direction - yes, of course! But anything more than that would be deeply unprofessional and downright irresponsible. What Gabor Mate does is the medical equivalent of just that, though.

I suspect it's completely different in the US, but where I'm from, he wouldn't even be able / allowed to prescribe ADHD medication - only psychiatrists can. What he says about ADHD is completely at odds with just about any reputable expert in the field and 'diagnosing' someone in public based on their book and a short talk is just the ludicrous cherry on top. As @Ooompaloopa says, his theories just aren't backed up by any proper scientific work. People like him may often be generally well-intentioned, but refuse to acknowledge their own limitations which is a truly terrible quality in any scientist. They prey on a potentially vulnerable clientele to sell their books full of pseudo-scientific psychobabble and anyone who supports them in doing so (such as Harry) should be ashamed of themselves.

I agree.

Most of his activities have a significant financial revenue stream attached and also involve members of his family on the payroll. I am not aware of any scientific trials he has run - just his writings which cherry pick from others to suit his narrative.

He is charismatic and intuitive which is attractive to many who may be susceptible, desperate or vulnerable.

Have either GM or Harry said that this filmed interview was their first meeting? I have no real views on GM but I've read a lot of stuff where people are saying how crazy it is that he has diagnosed ADHD on the basis of the book alone but because of client confidentiality presumably he couldn't say if he'd also based it on personal interactions.

I think the point here is that GM is not a specialist in the field of neurodiversity and he should not be diagnosing anyone at all with ADHD. I believe he is a physician

Gabor is also ‘self diagnosed’ with adhd.

I'd never heard of him before, but this is all sounding a bit unprofessional really.

I think the point here is that GM is not a specialist in the field of neurodiversity and he should not be diagnosing anyone at all with ADHD. I believe he is a physician

I think that's true in the UK but is it true in Canada?

I read somewhere, can't find the link now, that it was their second meeting. It didn't say when the first one was, but I somehow assume it was not too long ago and probably more of a business meeting rather than a therapy session.

GM is not practising anymore.

Oh OK, very odd then. So the whole interview was purely publicity for both their books. In which case GM presumably no longer speaks in a professional capacity anyway.

DD has just been diagnosed with ADHD.

This involved referral by a CAMHS psychologist who had been seeing her professionally for over 6 months for some mental health issues, various ed psych/neuro-psychological reports going back several years, a detailed developmental history, and forms/assessments filled in by DD, her school, and myself. Plus then observing DD in a 2 1/2 hour meeting.

There can be overlapping symptoms between e.g. complex PTSD due to trauma and ADHD, and one of the reasons it has taken several years to get a diagnosis is unpicking all that with DD (she had a very chaotic early life with her birth family). All the more reason to get detailed information and take a multi-disciplinary approach.

Not a 'guru' approach.

I think GM did some good work in raising awareness of the links between trauma and addiction, but that seems to have morphed into something that is not professional or therapeutic.

@mixedrecycling

good luck with your Dd. I found additude podcasts very helpful at the start

my thoughts too.

The first time I heard his name was at the start of the pandemic. I was listening to a podcast that regularly had unusual guests on. Gabor Mate was talking about lockdown and how people should take advantage of that time to take time out with their children and enjoy . It all sounded lovely but it was so far removed from the fear, having sick loved ones, working from home, homeschooling, worrying about how to pay the rent, put food on the table, just worrying if you were going to bring covid home with the food shopping etc..

i never bothered to read or listen to anything he was involved in after that.

I do appreciate though that there have been posters in here that have found him helpful. each to their own.

Also, I’m older now and have read enough self help books to last a life time. I can’t remember being terribly enlightened by any guru.

One book which I thought was worth my money was Victor Frankl’s “Man’s search for meaning”.. I’ve never forgotten that book.

just prior to the Harry and Gabor discussion, (really not sure what you’d call it), I’d read an article, promoting the discussion, which said they’d spoken once, just a talk to acquaint themselves with each other.

I’ll see if I can find it again.

Well he's not a psychiatrist or a psychologist is he???? And what is a trauma expert. How do you qualify as one.

Most of his activities have a significant financial revenue stream attached and also involve members of his family on the payroll. I am not aware of any scientific trials he has run - just his writings which cherry pick from others to suit his narrative

In other words a quack - good in his own field no doubt, but otherwise just appearing to dabble for the money and publicity

Amused to hear he'd "self diagnosed" with ADHD though; what with the lack of qualifications and the DIY approach on the subject, someone should tell him about this forum

Gabor mate has some good ideas, I bought his book hold onto your kids many years ago

But when you step into medical areas such as ALS being caused by being too nice, arthritis and adhd due to trauma and using anecdotes rather than scientific study you open yourself up to a different type of scrutiny

But when you step into medical areas such as ALS being caused by being too nice, arthritis and adhd due to trauma and using anecdotes rather than scientific study you open yourself up to a different type of scrutiny

He actually said ALS may be caused by being to nice and arthritis is due to trauma? Wow! The ADHD thing was bad enough but that is next level crazy! How is anyone still buying his books?!

Did Harry not do any homework before endorsing this quack?! You'd think at least Meghan would be smart enough to google the man and tell her dim husband to steer well clear, but obviously not. How embarrassing for them.

@ChinoiserieNerd

he said that als patients were holding in anger and too nice