This anxious life: Dr Mark Cross

Mark is an experienced consultant psychiatrist who also suffers from Australia's most common mental health condition, anxiety. His direct insight helps him understand how people with anxiety can thrive at work and in life

Mark is a consultant psychiatrist with thirty years' experience, a senior university lecturer, and specialist in the mental health of young people.

He came to public attention in Australia through the landmark ABC TV series, Changing Minds.

The series went inside Campbelltown Hospital’s mental health facility where Mark was senior psychiatrist at the time, and in charge of the youth ward. 

Away from work, Mark's suffered from anxiety his whole life, as did his mother and grandmother.

Anxiety is extremely common in Australia, with up to one in four people suffering at some time in their lives.

Even so, Mark says for medical professionals, disclosing a mental health condition remains especially difficult.

But it does give him direct insight into navigating life and work with this pernicious condition.

Further information

Anxiety is published by ABC Books

Listen to Mark's 2016 interview with Richard Fidler

Explore a collection of our conversations with mental health professionals

Mental health services

Find the mental health service you need

SANE Australia

If you need to talk, you can phone Lifeline 24/ 7 Phone 13 11 14

Bushfire Recovery Phone 13 43 57

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.