Full audio of my interview on Brainwaves with Cailin Thompson and Suzie Leach on 3CR radio, in which we discuss my lived experience of anxiety.  We start with my nationally-televised panic attack back in 2016 as the touchstone for the discussion and explore other manifestations of my anxiety through out my life.  We also discus coping strategies and healing modalities.

While the interview was ostensibly meant to be about my TV panic attack, the discussion moved to my recent autism diagnosis and what that discovery of being neurodiverse has meant for my understanding of living with anxiety.  This interview represented my public coming out as (non-intellectual disability) autistic. This was the missing link that I always knew was there, just out of view, but could never quite put my finger on.

I’m still processing the enormity of looking back across my life with new understanding of how and why I experienced things in the way I did.  There is a great feeling of relief to now be fully grounded, knowing how I fit in this world and how I relate to everyone and everything around me.  There is also a process of grief, working through the feelings of inadequacy, shame and heartbreak that arose from navigating hostile neurotypical environments without that understanding of myself as neurodiverse.  

FULL AUDIO: “Dr Benjamin Habib – Lived experience with anxiety (Full Interview).” Brainwaves. 3CR Radio. 7^th and 14^th September 2020

Thank you to Cailin Thompson and Suzy Leach for the invitation to appear on Brainwaves!

See Ben’s full catalogue of writing and media on mental health, anxiety and neurodiversity HERE.