Gaurav Sapra
Dr. Gloria Olchowy English 111
Sept. 25, 2015
Comprehensive Summary of ”Embraced by the Needle”
Gabor Maté, in his essay “Embraced by the Needle”, points out that addiction originates from unhappiness and works as an emotional analgesic which suppresses pain (254-57). He draws on his personal experiences as a staff physician at the Portland, in Vancouver, where most of his clients are addicted to alcohol or drugs like marijuana, cocaine etc. He treats his patients with Methadone which helps them get off harmful drugs like heroin. He notes that the population of addicted individuals in this part of the city is around 3,000 to 5,000. He points out that only around 8% to 15% of people who try drugs, actually, go on to addictive use of them, and asks “What makes them vulnerable?” (255). He asserts that no drug in itself is addictive. It’s the human brain circuitry, which helps the drug to bind with the brain receptors, causing addiction. Therefore, tranquilizers exerts the effect of drugs on brain’s natural benzodiazepine receptors. He professes that the emotional interaction early in life determines an individual’s brain development. He contends that if people grow up in an abusive environment and have never been loved, then they are much more likely to turn to drugs to get positive feelings. Maté cites research which indicates that human infants release endorphins in their brains, when they experience warm interactions with their parents. He also highlights a research conducted on infant rats and monkeys, that when they get less attention from their mothers, their brains release receptors and neurochemicals which causes anxiety and mood swings. Hence, they turn to drugs. He indeed specifies that the majority of women inhabiting in Canada’s addiction capital, have experienced sexual assaults in their childhood. He argues that children, who live in a