What is Mental Health?: Exploring STEM and Mental Health

By Lucia Ene-Lesikar (with excerpts from the sources listed below)

The relationship between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is pretty obvious in that mental health, like physical health is something that can be studied through a number of disciplines, but what exactly is it? According to mentalhealth.gov, it is emotional, psychological and social wellbeing that affects the way we think, feel and act. It can be impacted by a variety of things such as biological factors (e.g hereditary genetics or chemical imbalances of the brain), as well as environmental factors (e.g where we live or our life experiences). No two people tend to experience mental health struggles in the exact same way, which can make studying it more of a challenge, highlighting the need for a varied approach across multiple disciplines such as STEM.

Mental health is by no means discriminatory and can affect anyone, below we’ve listed some scientists that it has been suggested may have had mental health problems, along with some other resources, including an article about some pretty unusual inventions that were said to help people suffering with mental health problems.

SCIENTISTS

Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

While it's understandably difficult to diagnose a man who died in the 1720s, many contemporary writers and medical journals have suggested that English scientist Isaac Newton, who explained gravity and had the Laws of Motion named after himself, suffered from bipolar disorder and possibly depression.

Those who subscribe to this theory point to Newton's swings between periods of enraged mania (such as when he threatened to burn his parents house down with them inside it) and wallowing depression including delusions and hallucinations.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Many know that English scientist Charles Darwin sailed to the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere aboard the HMS Beagle in 1831, during which time he gathered evidence that would help him formulate the theory of evolution. Few, however, know that after Darwin returned from that voyage, he very seldom left home and lived as a recluse for the rest of his life. "Had it not been for this illness," suggests the research, "his theory of evolution might not have become the all-consuming passion that produced On the Origin of Species."Darwin suffered from agoraphobia and panic disorder.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

‘According to contemporary research reported by organizations like the International OCD Foundation and National Geographic, Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla suffered from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout his adult life.

As National Geographic writes, "He loathed jewelry and round objects and wouldn't touch hair. He was obsessed with the number three and polished every dining implement he used to perfection, using 18 napkins."’

https://allthatsinteresting.com/historical-figures-mental-disorders#2

BLOGS/ARTICLES/WEBSITES

The Importance of Mental Health Awareness in STEM! - An post about the impact of mental health within STEM.

https://thefemalescientist.com/guide/megan-sharrock-1/1989/the-importance-of-mental-health-awareness-in-stem/

Mental Wellness: Understanding the STEM Graduate Mental Health

https://athensscienceobserver.com/2018/09/16/mental-wellness-understanding-the-stem-graduate-mental-health-crisis/

Mental Health- A really interesting take on a woman’s experiences being a STEM student at uni.

https://jaz21693.wixsite.com/mysite/post/mental-health-in-stem

Mind (Student) - A great resource with tips on how to cope with and deal with your mental health as a student.

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/student-life/about-student-mental-health/

7 ‘Weird’ Mental Health Inventions - This article provides lots of strange inventions that have been used to ‘treat’ mental health problems. (Read at your own discretion, this article may not be suitable for children)

https://www.interesly.com/7-weird-mental-health-inventions/

5 Innovations Taking on Mental Health - This is a collection of really interesting technologies that might be part of the solution to reducing our current mental health crisis.

https://hundred.org/en/articles/5-innovations-taking-on-mental-health

INSTA

@the_bluebirdgirl - A behavioural endocrinologist who advocates for ‘Sanity in STEM’, we love all the nature pics!

@pippettes.and.adventures - An Austrian based radiobiologist and immuno-oncologist who writes lots of interesting things in both German and English.

@laurenthescientistt - A PhD researcher in Diabetes she has some great resources about mental health on her page.

@teach_ltd - A great account which has access to lots of higher education courses, but also lot of great posts about mental health in STEM

@jack.orgdaleng - an account that was set up for engineering students, but you might find it helpful too.

@Madelinescientist - Really great account that centres around mental health with lots of her own personal stories.

YOUTUBE

Here are just a few Youtube videos that provide a bit more information about what mental health actually is and the science behind it. Enjoy!

What are mental health problems?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUWhdmKyOE8

The Science of Depression

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOK1tKFFIQI

The Surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health | Julia Rucklidge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dqXHHCc5lA

What It’s Like to Have a Mental Illness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5nFEn_MXng

A Conversation About Mental Health in STEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIPZ4uJ2QRE

BOOKS/JOURNALS

If you really want to get deeper into the science behind mental health illnesses, these books are a great place to start, we even included some children’s books to start conversations early.

Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness - Anne Harrington

Psychological: Why Mental Health Goes Wrong - and How to Make Sense of It - Dean Burnett

OTHER SOURCES

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/25-famous-people-with-mental-illnesses

https://allthatsinteresting.com/historical-figures-mental-disorders

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health