Anti-vaccine protests are fuelled by distrust, unresolved trauma, addictions expert says

The organizer of a large and contentious protest against COVID-19 vaccine requirements at a Kamloops, B.C., hospital one week ago says he has no regrets.

Glenn Aalderink, who is also a nurse at Royal Inland Hospital, admits his actions have made him a pariah in his community, but he says speaking out against the vaccine passport system was the right thing to do. "I feel the government has no right to sit there within societal laws and dictate how we live our lives," Aalderink said. And while those who support the science behind vaccine delivery might condemn Aalderink's actions, addiction specialist Dr. Gabor Maté  says what's behind anti-vaccine ideologies — and similarly climate change denial — are people who feel alone, disconnected and less resilient than others. "I believe that the sources of that rage and fear and distrust is actual trauma," says Maté. "Trauma has many different manifestations. Addiction is one of them." Maté, 77, is a best-selling author, retired physician and Order of Canada recipient who has spent more than a decade working with people who have addictions in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He says Aalderink's ideologies as well as others in the anti-vaccine movement are rooted in childhood. "We're looking at a lot of traumatized people who are finding a political outlet for their mistrust and anger. It's nothing to do with the issue itself, it has to do with the issue acting as a flash point for their own unresolved traumatic imprints," he said.