148: Parham Nematollah: Prenatal Bomb Shelters and Anxiety

Summary: Parham Nematollah grew up in Iran during the Iran-Iraq war where he lived through frequent bombings that sent his whole family fleeing for safety. At 16 he moved back to the US for good but the constant change caused him to feel outside of both cultures and desperate to fit in by any means necessary. His anxiety (rooted in the early trauma of war) and the desire to fit in, caused him to start using alcohol and cocaine to deal with it all. At 25 he overdosed and finally found sobriety while sitting across from his sick mother who happened to be at the same hospital for treatment. He wondered what she did to deserve her sickness and what he was doing to her.