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The Laura Dowling Experience

The Laura Dowling Experience

De : Laura Dowling
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Conversations about health, science, wellness, life, love, sex and everything in-between. Laura is a Pharmacist who loves to talk to interesting people about their unique life and work experiences. See @fabulouspharmacist on instagram for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

© 2025 The Laura Dowling Experience Hygiène et vie saine Psychologie Psychologie et psychiatrie Sciences sociales
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  • #170 Caroline Foran | The Nervous System, Anxiety & PDA Parenting

    #170 Caroline Foran | The Nervous System, Anxiety & PDA Parenting
    May 21 2026
    Anxiety author Caroline Foran joins Laura for a deeply personal conversation about parenting a young son recently diagnosed as autistic with a PDA profile, alongside her own long history with anxiety.Caroline talks openly about the years before the diagnosis, the blame she turned inward, and everything she has had to unlearn about parenting. She explains what PDA — Pervasive Drive for Autonomy — actually looks like day to day, why traditional approaches can make things worse, and the social pressure of being seen to "manage" a child whose nervous system is set on high alert.She also shares her own anxiety story, from a frightening breakdown at sixteen in Italy through to the severe physical anxiety that took over her twenties. Caroline talks about medication, CBT, and the years of work behind her new book Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety, and why so much of recovery came from showing her body safety rather than trying to outthink her own mind.🔑 Key PointsDiscovering a PDA profile — Caroline explains Pervasive Drive for Autonomy and what it means for her son's nervous system day to day.Why traditional parenting backfires — Holding firm boundaries can push a PDA child straight into fight or flight, even at five.Lowering the demands — A low-demand, declarative-language approach has reshaped everyday life at home.Performative parenting — The urge to respond to her son for the benefit of onlookers, even with close friends.The years before the diagnosis — A bumpy COVID start, severe separation anxiety and two preschool attempts that left him distressed.Caroline's anxiety story — A breakdown at sixteen in Italy and a severe physical episode at twenty-five.Medication, CBT and self-compassion — Prozac, behavioural therapy and learning to respond to anxiety with kindness rather than self-attack.Showing the body safety — Why walking, rhythm and bottom-up regulation worked better than trying to master her thoughts.The cost of constant stimulation — Social media, the pleasure–pain balance and collective anxiety since COVID.📚 ResourcesEverything I Wish I'd Known About AnxietyOwning ItPDA SocietyCasey Ehrlich (Peace Parents)Dr Anna Lembke — Dopamine Nation⏱️ Timestamps02:00 — "Is he non-verbal?" introducing her son02:30 — Autism with a PDA profile03:00 — What PDA stands for04:30 — Nervous system disability and perceived demand06:00 — Why traditional parenting can backfire08:00 — Performative parenting in public10:00 — A pillow on the grass and what dysregulation looks like13:00 — Blaming herself before the diagnosis17:00 — Sensory overwhelm and rethinking exposure20:00 — Preschool, school and what comes next30:00 — Family life, marriage and never a date night33:30 — Caroline's anxiety story begins in Italy39:00 — A severe breakdown at twenty-five45:00 — Starting medication and what Prozac actually did51:00 — CBT, behavioural experiments and getting her life back56:00 — Showing the body safety59:00 — Social media and the pleasure–pain balance01:04:00 — Caroline's new book01:05:30 — Advice and the meaning of lifeThanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 h et 8 min
  • Bitesize Moment: "I Thought I Was Fine. I Wasn't." — Kyla Cobbler on getting sober

    Bitesize Moment: "I Thought I Was Fine. I Wasn't." — Kyla Cobbler on getting sober
    May 19 2026

    In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, comedian Kyla Cobbler shares an honest, no-frills account of how her drinking quietly turned into dependency — while she was still training, working, and gigging five nights a week.


    She tells Laura how being a regular performer in Barcelona blurred the lines between socialising and self-medicating, and how Dry January cracked the whole thing open. What started as a simple challenge ended in withdrawal, therapy, AA, and a completely new relationship with fear, nerves, and joy on stage.


    🔑 Key Points
    • How "high-functioning" drinking can hide a much bigger problem
    • The cycle of running, gigging, free drinks — and waking up groggy every single morning
    • What withdrawal actually felt like by day two of Dry January
    • Why it was never about the red wine — it was about wanting to feel different
    • Performing sober for the first time, and learning to feel everything instead of numbing it


    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    6 min
  • #169 Barbara Scully | The Things They Don't Tell You About Getting Older

    #169 Barbara Scully | The Things They Don't Tell You About Getting Older
    May 14 2026
    Barbara Scully sits down with Laura for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with her own recent run-in with the medical system and opens out into what it actually means to age as a woman in Ireland today.Barbara talks about months of hip pain, a string of MRIs, a suspected stroke that turned out to be nothing, and the moment she decided to step off the treadmill of tests, hand back the prescription and rebuild her strength in the gym. She also shares her type 2 diabetes diagnosis in her mid-50s and the two years of remission she achieved through diet and exercise before her mother died and life became harder again.The conversation moves into menopause, brain fog, mood swings and the language used about older women. Barbara reframes brain fog as an information retrieval slowdown, makes the case that women's anger after menopause is real and warranted, and argues that being underestimated as you get older is closer to a superpower than to invisibility.There is also room for the story behind it all. Growing up tall in a male-dominated house. Becoming an unmarried mother in 1987 and listening to politicians and clergy describe women like her as a scourge on the radio. The close, unconventional friendship she had with her mother, who set up her own business teaching women word processing in the late 1980s. And the comedy career she fell into in her 60s, now touring with her one-woman show Older Bolder Wiser. Her best-selling book ‘Wise Up’ is available now in Irish bookstores nationwide & on Amazon.ie 📚🔑 Key PointsTrusting your gut with healthcareAfter months of MRIs and a hip replacement referral, Barbara declined the surgery and rebuilt her strength through physio and the gym.A diabetes diagnosis as a wake-up callA type 2 diagnosis in her mid-50s pushed her into healthier habits and into remission for two years.Brain fog reframedWomen in their 60s have decades more information stored than younger people; what is labelled brain fog is information retrieval slowdown.Anger after menopause is realAs life pressures lift, you have the headspace to notice ongoing inequalities, and that anger is not a hormonal mood swing.Underestimated, not invisibleBeing overlooked as an older woman gives you the element of surprise and the freedom to take risks without caring what people think.The cost of conformityA senior CEO told Barbara she would love to let her hair go grey but feared not being taken seriously at work.Becoming an unmarried mother in 1987Barbara remembers her father going upstairs to be sick, three weeks of silence, then a quiet "we'll stand by you" on a snowy morning.A friendship with her motherHer mother bought her her first baby cham at 12, set up her own business in her 50s and was a collaborator throughout Barbara's life.📚 ResourcesWise Up — Barbara ScullyMemoir reflecting on the years after menopause.Older Bolder WiserBarbara's one-woman comedy show currently touring Irish theatres.Funny Women IrelandSet up by Orla Doherty and Val Troy to promote women in comedy.⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Hip pain and the MRI run-around03:00 — Stepping off the treadmill of tests07:30 — Type 2 diabetes and remission09:30 — Why brain fog is not what we are told11:00 — Anger after menopause is real13:00 — Underestimated rather than invisible17:00 — Letting the hair go grey22:00 — The freedom of getting older28:00 — A first smear test in the 80s36:00 — Growing up tall and the slow set44:00 — Giving up red wine and finding gin48:00 — Her mother as collaborator56:00 — Losing her mother in 2022Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 h et 30 min
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