Question: Good afternoon! I saw that you live in Aberdeen! I love visiting fife so we sometimes go to Aberdeen. Do you think the place you live impacts your work in terms of how inspired you are by it and how it affects your mental health too?

Mimi Asogwa answered on 25 May 2023:

I definitely think where you live impacts on your mental health. if you live in a place where you have lots of things that you enjoy, this invariably makes you happy. For example I love nature so enjoy going for walks by the beach, botanic gardens, nature reserves etc. There are loads of these in Aberdeen and Scotland. This also gives me a chance to travel to other parts of Scotland to explore and that makes me very happy indeed!

Speaking as a Microbiologist, I will also add that the type of work one does affects their mental health. If you enjoy your job and your team, you are motivated to go to work and hopefully get some interesting results from your experiments every week day even if its busy and hard work. You know that through your work, some Science question can be answered which will impact positively in the society. This gives a sense of purpose and self worth.

On the flip side, if one does not enjoy their work/ team or not appreciated for huge effort/long hours put into work, its can have a negative effect.