Mark AnxCalm - New Solutions to the Anxiety Epidemic

John: This is Doctor John Dacey with my weekly podcast New Solutions to the Anxiety Epidemic. Today, I have an old friend of mine, by the name of Mark. He’s going o talk to us about his own experiences with Anxiety. Good morning, Mark. How are you?
Mark: Good, John. How are you?
John: Fine. First of all, I’d like you to tell us a little about yourself. What work have you done and where are you at today?
Mark: I was born and brought up in Massachusetts. I was in the family business, I became a truck driver for 35 years and most recently my company filed for bankruptcy.
A note to my listeners: When I interviewed Mark, I had no idea which of the 8 types of anxiety he would say he had a problem with. He alleged that he had no problems with the first 7, only a serious problem with the last one. So I’m going to skip that part of our interview and go right to the last type of anxiety: Post-traumatic stress disorder.

John: Having been through an extremely stressful situation and sometimes getting flashbacks from it.
Mark: Maybe.
John: Can you tell us a little more about that?
Mark: The death of a parent.
John: Oh, of course. And which parent was that?
Mark: Mother. 1973.
John: Ok. You say this was ] traumatic for you. Why was this such a hard thing for you to deal with, if you’d be willing to share with us?
Mark: Growing up without a mother I was just a young boy.
John: How old were you?
Mark: I was 13 years old.
John: Oh that’s really terrible. Can you tell us how she died?
Mark: She died in bed. She was a sick woman, but she died at the age of 49.
John: Oh, that’s really sad. It was more than just very sad for you. You think it might have been traumatic.
Mark: Yeah I think it was traumatic for me.
John: Is it still traumatic? Like, do you miss her terribly every day? Or have you gotten more used to it?
Mark: I’ve gotten used to it.
John: How do you think you got to the place where you felt pretty used to it?
Mark: Can I give you credit.
John: Sure.
Mark: When I met you, you were just a man at an AA meeting, and then when I was 10 years sober, then we talked.
John: You don’t mind saying that you were my client for a while.
Mark: Not if you don’t mind.
John: No I don’t. I’d love to take the credit. So we talked about your mother, didn’t we?
Mark: We did.
John: Can you tell us a little bit about — was that successful? Do you feel like you were able to do better after that?
Mark: I dealt with my pain with alcohol and booze and I was at a crossroads in my sobriety and you helped me through that without drinking.
John: That’s terrific. I’m really proud of you and I think 34 years is an incredible achievement. Do you have any children?
Mark: None.
John: Ok. Who is the person you are the closest to, would you say?