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  • CAREER COLUMN

Finding mental-health clarity under pandemic pressures

For two decades, mycologist Matt Kasson’s hyperactivity and anxiety felt like a superpower. Then COVID struck.
By
  1. Matt Kasson

    1. Matt Kasson is an associate professor of mycology and plant pathology at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

In 2017, my PhD student and I discovered that 13- and 17-year-old cicadas infected with the fungus Massospora cicadina had trace amounts of the amphetamine cathinone inside their fungus-filled abdomens. Little did I know that four years later, during a global pandemic, I would be prescribed the same class of stimulants to address my long-untreated mental disorder.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03760-4

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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