Episode 149: Mind-Body Trauma Research: The Truth with Dr. Gabor Maté
- THA Operations
- Nov 28, 2025
- 13 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Why does groundbreaking research on mind-body medicine disappear without a trace? How do emotional factors create conditions for chronic illness and autoimmune disease decades later? What happens when a Harvard study shows severe PTSD doubles ovarian cancer risk—and the medical system simply ignores it?
Dr. Gabor Maté joins me to discuss the writing process behind The Myth of Normal, his 19-week New York Times bestseller bringing together decades of research on trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and how emotional factors drive physical disease. We explore why mind-body unity—understood since Socrates 2,600 years ago—remains controversial in mainstream medicine despite overwhelming scientific evidence. Gabor addresses the most damaging misconception about his work: that he blames parents and patients.
Whether we're trauma-informed practitioners, healing from chronic illness, or parents navigating guilt and shame, we'll understand why this conversation about mind-body medicine is finally reaching people—even when the medical system isn't ready.
In this episode you'll learn:
[01:59] The Myth of Normal Journey: How 10 years of research and 20,000 articles became a 500-page synthesis of trauma biology
[04:00] Writing for Critics Made Me Sick: Why trying to convince skeptics creates the very trauma biology we're studying
[06:00] Harvard's 1939 Buried Truth: Soma Weiss's lecture on emotional factors equaling physical factors—and why it's still ignored
[07:42] PTSD Doubles Ovarian Cancer Risk: Harvard study the average gynecologist never read—and what it means for trauma healing
[09:40] People Are Ready, Systems Aren't: Why this trauma revolution is happening at the grassroots level first
[13:53] New York Times Bestseller Doesn't Equal Happiness: The personal lesson about achievement and inner state
[16:00] The Biggest Misconception: Addressing the damaging claim that Gabor blames parents and patients for illness
[18:00] ADHD, Genes, and Environment: Why genetic sensitivity plus stressed parents creates attention dysregulation—without blame
Main Takeaways:
Mind-Body Unity Isn't New Science: Socrates recognized 2,600 years ago that separating mind from body was medicine's fundamental error, and Harvard professor Soma Weiss lectured in 1939 that emotional factors equal physical factors in disease causation and healing. This isn't cutting-edge discovery—it's forgotten wisdom the medical system repeatedly buries.
Scientific Evidence Disappears in the Bermuda Triangle: Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies demonstrate trauma's biological impact on chronic illness, autoimmune disease, and cancer risk, yet research doesn't change medicine when ideology creates blind spots. A Harvard study showed severe PTSD doubles ovarian cancer risk, but the average gynecologist never reads it.
Empowerment, Not Blame, Changes Lives: Understanding that stress affects multiple sclerosis relapse risk or that the environment acts on ADHD genes doesn't blame patients or parents—it empowers them. Knowledge of how trauma creates conditions for illness provides agency to address root causes rather than remaining passive recipients of symptomatic care.
Mitochondrial Dysfunction Extends the Mind-Body Framework: While The Myth of Normal covers mind-body unity comprehensively, Biology of Trauma® goes deeper to subcellular levels—showing how trauma affects mitochondria, cellular energy production, and the biology underneath symptoms.
Notable Quotes:
"Socrates said 2,600 years ago in ancient Greece that the problem with the doctors today is they separate the mind from the body."
"Emotional factors are at least as important in the causation of disease as physiological factors, and must be at least as important in the healing." (From the 1939 Harvard lecture)
"You can have the same genes and have ADHD or not have ADHD. What makes the difference is how the environment acts on those genes."
"Trauma is so ubiquitous in this culture and it's so poorly understood and addressed in the healing profession."
"The change will happen at the level of people, not at the system. The people will demand the system change."
Episode Takeaway:
What struck me most in this conversation with Gabor is how the desperate need to convince skeptical colleagues stems from our earliest attachment patterns where authority figures' opinions determined our safety. This is why writing to prove ourselves to critics creates the very nervous system dysregulation our trauma work addresses. Mind-body unity isn't revolutionary new science—it's 2,600 years of wisdom that mainstream medicine repeatedly buries. When Harvard published research in 1939 showing emotional factors equal physical factors in disease, and recent studies demonstrate severe PTSD doubles ovarian cancer risk, the medical system's silence isn't about lack of evidence but about ideological blind spots. The revolution happening now shows people are ready for this conversation even when systems aren't. As chronic illness increases, people seek understanding of how stored trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and emotional factors create conditions for autoimmune disease, cancer, and ADHD decades later. This isn't about blaming parents or patients—it's about empowering us with agency to address root causes. External achievement doesn't heal unresolved trauma, but the gratitude when we stop trying to convince critics and instead empower people with truth makes it worthwhile. We're catching a wave we're also generating. The system will change when people demand it.
Resources/Guides:
Visit biologyoftrauma.com for more resources on the Biology of Trauma® framework
The Biology of Trauma book - Available now everywhere books are sold. Get your copy
Foundational Journey - If you are ready to create your inner safety and shift your nervous system, join me and my team for this 6 week journey of practical somatic and mind-body inner child practices. Lay your foundation to do the deeper work safely and is the pre-requisite for becoming a Biology of Trauma® professional.
Check out Dr. Gabor Maté’s book, The Myth of Normal.
Related Episodes:
Your host: Dr. Aimie Apigian, double board-certified physician (Preventive/Addiction Medicine) with master's degrees in biochemistry and public health, and author of the national bestselling book "The Biology of Trauma" (foreword by Gabor Maté) that transforms our understanding of how the body experiences and holds trauma. After foster-adopting a child during medical school sparked her journey, she desperately sought for answers that would only continue as she developed chronic health issues. Through her practitioner training, podcast, YouTube channel, and international speaking, she bridges functional medicine, attachment and trauma therapy, facilitating accelerated repair of trauma's impact on the mind, body and biology.
Mind-Body Medicine and Chronic Illness: Why Groundbreaking Research Keeps Disappearing
Harvard published research showing severe PTSD doubles ovarian cancer risk. Most gynecologists never read it.
Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies demonstrate how emotional factors create conditions for autoimmune disease, chronic illness, and cancer decades later. The research appears in major medical journals, then simply disappears from medical practice. Dr. Gabor Maté calls it the Bermuda Triangle of mind-body medicine—evidence that challenges mainstream thinking vanishes without a trace.
This pattern has repeated for 2,600 years. From Socrates to a 1939 Harvard lecture stating emotional factors equal physical factors in disease causation—the medical system repeatedly buries what it doesn't want to see.
In this conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté about writing The Myth of Normal, his 19-week New York Times bestseller on trauma and chronic illness, we explore why this revolution in understanding mind-body medicine is finally reaching people despite medical resistance.
The Bermuda Triangle: How Mind-Body Research Disappears
Groundbreaking studies on trauma and disease appear in prestigious journals, then vanish from medical consciousness—not because they're disproven, but because they threaten fundamental assumptions.
Gabor describes this: "There's all this scientific research published in significant journals. Then everybody forgets about it. It just disappears without a trace—like the Bermuda Triangle."
The pattern repeats across decades. Researchers publish findings showing emotional factors predict heart disease, autoimmune conditions, cancer risk, and neurological disorders. The studies meet every standard of scientific rigor. Then silence.
Medical schools don't update curricula despite thousands of studies establishing mind-body connection. Residency programs continue training physicians to treat bodies as machines. Clinical guidelines ignore research showing how nervous system dysregulation creates chronic illness.
This isn't about lack of evidence. It's about ideological blindness that persists because acknowledging mind-body medicine would require fundamentally restructuring healthcare—asking patients about childhood experiences as routinely as checking blood pressure.
The cost? Millions living with chronic conditions their doctors can't explain, prescribed medications addressing symptoms but not root causes, told their suffering is "just stress"—when the Biology of Trauma® creating their illness has been documented for decades.
Harvard's 1939 Buried Truth Still Threatens Careers Today
Socrates understood mind-body unity 2,600 years ago. Every generation since has had to rediscover what gets systematically buried.
"To this day at Harvard, to talk about mind-body unity is to jeopardize your career," Gabor explains. "We're talking over 80 years ago that research came out."
In 1939, Harvard professor Soma Weiss stated that emotional factors are at least as important in disease causation as physical factors. His words were documented, published, and forgotten.
The Biology of Trauma® shows how trauma affects us down to mitochondrial levels. When nervous system dysregulation persists for years, it fundamentally alters:
Immune function and surveillance capabilities
Metabolic processes and cellular energy production
Hormonal balance and stress response systems
Inflammatory pathways and DNA repair mechanisms
This explains why approximately 20 years of chronic stress precedes autoimmune disease diagnosis—the body holds trauma in its biology long before symptoms manifest.
When PTSD Doubles Cancer Risk—And Doctors Never Read the Study
Research showing severe PTSD doubles ovarian cancer risk should revolutionize gynecological care. Instead, it joins thousands of other studies in the ignored evidence pile.
Gabor shares this example: "Women with severe PTSD had doubled the risk of ovarian cancer, and the milder the symptoms, the less the risk. You think the average gynecologist even has read that study?"
Most gynecologists practicing today have never encountered this research. They screen for genetic mutations like BRCA1 and BRCA2. They track family history. But they don't ask about trauma history, chronic stress patterns, or nervous system state—despite research showing these factors predict cancer risk independent of genetic vulnerabilities.
The mechanism isn't mysterious. Chronic nervous system dysregulation from unresolved trauma creates specific biological conditions:
Suppressed immune surveillance allowing abnormal cells to escape detection
Persistent inflammation damaging cellular DNA
Disrupted hormonal balance affecting estrogen metabolism
Impaired mitochondrial function reducing cellular repair capacity
Elevated stress hormones promoting cell proliferation
Two women I've worked with, Dirci and Melanie, both developed breast cancer after years of chronic dysregulation they didn't recognize. Dirci tested negative for 50 genetic mutations linked to cancer. Her genes weren't the problem—her environment was changing how those genes expressed.
Both women looked better after cancer treatment than before diagnosis because they finally addressed underlying nervous system patterns that had been depleting their immune function for decades. Yet conventional oncology sent them back to "normal life" after treatment—the same patterns that created conditions for illness.
Why Writing for Critics Creates the Very Trauma Biology You're Studying
The desperate need to convince skeptical colleagues stems from childhood attachment patterns where authority figures' opinions determined safety.
Gabor shares a profound insight: "When you said you made yourself sick by worrying about the critic—when was the first time somebody's opinion of you made a big difference? That goes back to early childhood."
When children need parental approval for safety, they develop nervous systems attuned to authority figures' opinions. This isn't conscious choice—it's biological wiring that persists in adulthood.
When Gabor found himself sick while writing The Myth of Normal, obsessing about critics' responses, he was experiencing the stress biology his book documents.
"Once you let go of that and just speak your truth, you're free to write," he explains. The freedom came from recognizing the attachment pattern, understanding its childhood origins, and choosing to write for people who need the information.
This represents a crucial teaching: intellectual understanding isn't sufficient. Healing requires addressing the body's stored patterns, not just acquiring mental insight. This is why traditional talk therapy often falls short—it works psychologically while the nervous system and cellular memory remain unchanged.
How The Myth of Normal Became a Bestseller Through People, Not Systems
When a book documenting trauma's biological impact reaches millions through podcasts and word-of-mouth rather than traditional media, it reveals that people are ready for this conversation even when gatekeepers aren't.
The Myth of Normal spent 19 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list despite minimal mainstream media coverage. The book found its audience through podcasts, social media, and personal recommendations from people whose lives it changed.
The book succeeds because it explains what people experience but conventional medicine dismisses. When your doctor says chronic fatigue is "just stress," your rheumatologist says autoimmunity "runs in families" with nothing to be done, and your oncologist sends you back to "normal life" after cancer treatment, you're desperate for understanding that acknowledges your lived experience.
Gabor articulates this cultural moment: "As society becomes more difficult, as health becomes more precarious, people are asking questions mainstream medicine doesn't satisfactorily answer. We've caught a wave, and we're also helping to generate it."
The statistics confirm society's deteriorating health:
Autoimmunity now affects one in three adults—more common than cancer and heart disease combined
Metabolic syndrome increased from 25 percent to over one-third of US adults since 1994
Chronic fatigue, digestive disorders, and unexplained symptoms plague growing percentages of the population
This grassroots success pattern mirrors the broader trauma healing revolution happening now. The movement grows because people need this information to heal, and they're no longer willing to wait for medical institutions to catch up.
The Most Damaging Misconception About Mind-Body Medicine
Critics claim mind-body medicine blames patients—missing the profound difference between understanding causation and assigning fault.
Gabor addresses this: "The biggest misconception: people say I blame parents for their children having issues, or I blame people for getting sick. You don't blame people for having unconscious patterns."
This misconception keeps people from engaging with information that could heal them. Understanding mechanisms that create illness provides agency to address root causes.
Consider Dirci and Melanie. When they understood how nervous system dysregulation created biological conditions allowing cancer to develop, they felt empowered—not blamed.
Dirci's words: "I knew that the way my life was happening was what put me into cancer. So I needed to find help." Recognition and agency, not blame.
Research showing trauma increases MS relapse risk five to seven times demonstrates how understanding causation empowers intervention. People with MS who address underlying trauma patterns experience:
Fewer relapses and slower disease progression
Better quality of life than conventional care alone
Increased capacity for presence and reduced anxiety
Improved energy and immune function
That's empowerment, not blame.
When Achievement Doesn't Heal Unresolved Trauma
External success can't fill internal voids shaped by unresolved trauma.
Gabor shares this: "You can have a New York Times bestseller and still be totally miserable on a bad day. That's what I learned."
Many people unconsciously believe achievement will heal their wounds. It doesn't work that way. External success creates temporary satisfaction quickly replaced by the next goal. The underlying pattern—seeking external validation because internal worth never formed securely—remains unchanged.
This connects to why high-achieving people develop chronic illness. They use ambition as coping mechanisms for dysregulation. They push through exhaustion and override nervous system needs. This creates decades of stress eventually manifesting as autoimmune disease, cancer, or chronic fatigue.
The meaning comes from empowering people with agency: "The gratitude is tremendous when you speak truth to people, when you help them understand something, when you give them insight that helps them empower themselves so they have agency."
Starting Your Mind-Body Healing Journey Today
You can begin addressing stored trauma's impact on your health today with accessible practices supporting nervous system regulation.
Assess Your Nervous System State
Notice your body's signals throughout the day:
Do you experience chronic tension in your shoulders, jaw, or abdomen?
How's your breathing—shallow and chest-based, or deep and diaphragmatic?
When stress occurs, what's your default response—activation and pushing through, or shutdown and withdrawal?
Keep a simple three-day nervous system journal. Note what triggers dysregulation, how your body responds, and how long it takes to return to baseline.
Implement One Daily Regulation Practice
Choose a single tool you'll commit to using daily for three weeks:
The Heart Hold: Place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly while breathing slowly. This provides immediate co-regulation through vagal nerve stimulation.
Voo Breath: Exhale twice as long as you inhale. This directly stimulates vagal tone and shifts your nervous system toward safety.
Consistency matters more than duration. Five minutes daily creates more nervous system change than occasional longer sessions.
Address Biology Alongside Nervous System
Support your body's healing capacity at the cellular level:
Open drainage pathways through proper hydration and movement
Reduce inflammatory burden by identifying food sensitivities
Support mitochondrial function with CoQ10, magnesium, and B vitamins
Prioritize sleep quality over perfectionistic duration
Your chronic symptoms aren't separate from your trauma history—they're your body communicating information about stored patterns requiring attention at mind, body, and biology levels simultaneously.
The Truth Medicine Doesn't Want You to Know
Understanding how emotional factors create conditions for chronic illness empowers you to address root causes. Waiting for medical systems to acknowledge what research proved decades ago keeps you stuck in symptomatic care.
Mind-body unity isn't controversial new science. It's 2,600 years of wisdom repeatedly buried. The research documenting trauma's biological impact exists in peer-reviewed journals. Studies showing PTSD doubles cancer risk, stress increases MS relapse risk dramatically, and adverse childhood experiences predict adult autoimmunity aren't fringe theories—they're established science the medical system chooses to ignore.
The revolution happening now shows people are ready even when systems aren't. You don't need all the answers or perfect implementation. You just need to start where you are—noticing your nervous system state, implementing one daily regulation practice, addressing biology alongside psychological and somatic work.
Your body has been trying to protect you. Your symptoms have been trying to communicate. Your nervous system has been keeping score. The question becomes: Will you listen to your body's wisdom, or wait for medical validation that may never come?
Helpful Resources
Engel, G.L. (1977). "The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine." Science, 196(4286), 129-136. George Engel's seminal paper identified medicine's "crippling flaw"—excluding the patient as a person from the disease equation. He called for a biopsychosocial approach recognizing that emotions and physiology function as unified, dynamic processes unfolding in relationship contexts. Despite being published nearly 50 years ago, medical education still largely ignores Engel's insights, perpetuating the very separation he identified as fundamentally flawed.
Felitti, V.J., et al. (1998). "Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study." American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258. This groundbreaking study revealed that adverse childhood experiences predict adult chronic disease independent of behavioral factors like smoking, drinking, or weight. The dose-response relationship—more adverse experiences correlating with higher disease risk—demonstrates that trauma's impact on health isn't random but systematic and predictable, providing the foundation for understanding how early experiences shape long-term health outcomes.
This Episode Is For:
✓ Trauma-informed practitioners
✓ People healing from chronic illness
✓ Parents navigating guilt and shame
✓ Anyone interested in mind-body medicine
✓ Those frustrated with mainstream medicine
✓ People wanting to understand ADHD and trauma
✓ Anyone ready for root cause healing
✓ Those seeking empowerment over blame
What You'll Learn
Listen to Dr. Gabor Maté discuss The Myth of Normal journey. Learn why writing for critics made him sick. Harvard's 1939 buried truth about emotional factors equaling physical factors. PTSD doubling ovarian cancer risk that gynecologists never read. Why people are ready but systems aren't for this conversation. New York Times bestseller doesn't equal happiness or inner peace. The biggest misconception that Gabor blames parents and patients. ADHD, genes, and environment showing how factors interact. Mind-body unity isn't new but 2,600 years of forgotten wisdom. Mitochondrial dysfunction extending the mind-body framework deeper. Why trauma is ubiquitous in culture and poorly understood. And how we're catching a wave we're also generating.
Mind-body unity is 2,600 years old—people are ready for this truth.
Disclaimer
This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.
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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?
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