![](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/johann-hari-12042.jpg)
Ranked #3 in Addiction, Ranked #5 in Codependency — see more rankings.
Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with the severely addicted on Vancouver’s skid row, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts radically reenvisions this much misunderstood field by taking a holistic approach. Dr. Maté presents addiction not as a discrete phenomenon confined to an unfortunate or weak-willed few, but as a continuum that runs throughout (and perhaps underpins) our society; not a medical "condition" distinct from the lives it affects, rather the result of a complex interplay among personal history, emotional, and... more
Reviews and Recommendations
We've comprehensively compiled reviews of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts from the world's leading experts.
![](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/johann-hari-12042.jpg)
Johann Hari If you wanted to design a system that would make addiction worse, you’d design the system we have now. (Source)
Rankings by Category
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is ranked in the following categories:
- #50 in Drugs
- #18 in Forensic Psychology
- #27 in Gambling
- #45 in Healing
- #50 in Neurology
- #28 in Psychiatry
- #28 in Psychotherapy
- #17 in Recovery
- #16 in Social Work
- #37 in Therapy
- #44 in Trauma