Embraced By The Needle Summary

The article “Embraced by the Needle” written by Gabor Mate on August 27th 2001 describes the struggle that individuals who received little to no affection during adolescence experience in relation to drug addictions and abuse. The author, Gabor Mate, is a Vancouver physician who works closely with individuals who have become addicted to drug use. He describes his patients as tormented “urchins” (Mate,2001, para, 9) who were severely mistreated or abused in their adolescent years and early childhood. The article goes on to explain that the lack of emotional situations and nurturing behaviour causes a deficit in brain development, specifically causing an inability to develop natural receptors that create dopamine and other necessary chemicals