Explain your work in one easy paragraph.
I explore the relationship between recreational drug use and mental health. It is surprisingly hard to unpick what might cause what. We see more drug use in people with poor mental health, but is this because drugs increase the risk, or because people with poor mental health are drawn to use drugs, or that other factors affect the likelihood of both?
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How did you end up working in this field?
When I was studying psychology at University College London, I took a module called 鈥淒rugs and the Mind鈥�. The practical involved us taking either alcohol or nitrous oxide and doing a number of cognitive and fine motor tasks. I was fascinated by the course, and realised, maybe for the first time, that different drugs can have very different effects.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An astronaut. It was the mid 鈥�90s and Helen Sharman was living my dream.
Your book debunks myths about drugs. Why did you decide to write it?
Loads of us hold misconceptions about drugs, including legal ones like alcohol. I made a podcast exploring these, and the science around drugs more generally, and it really took off. The book explores what we know, and what we don鈥檛, about the drugs in our lives and in our societies.
What are the most common misconceptions about drugs?
One is that you only need to use a drug like heroin once to become addicted to it. Another is that legal drugs are less harmful. While it is true that there are additional risks when a substance is illicit, such as dosing, drugs like alcohol and tobacco are most certainly not without harm. Quite the opposite.
鈥淥ne of the most common misconceptions is that you only need to take a drug like heroin once to become addicted鈥�
What鈥檚 the most exciting thing you鈥檙e working on right now?
I鈥檓 really excited about a current project using two groups of young people born 10 years apart to explore changing patterns in lifestyle behaviours and mental health in UK teenagers. Depression is on the rise in UK teens. We鈥檙e trying to understand why, and hopefully do more to support young people.
How has your field of study changed in the time you have been working in it?
The national, and global, conversation about drugs is changing. We are seeing cannabis decriminalised in lots of places and it feels like the public perception of drugs has become a bit more nuanced.
Were you good at science at school?
Yes, but if anything, it was A level English literature that helped the most for a degree in psychology.
What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?
God damn it, you鈥檝e got to be kind.
What鈥檚 the best thing you鈥檝e read or seen in the past 12 months?
Hannah Fry鈥檚 Hello World, about algorithms, and Luke Turner鈥檚 memoir Out of the Woods, exploring sexuality and Epping Forest, among other things.
Do you have an unexpected hobby, and if so, please will you tell us about it?
I play synths and have been in a number of bands, including a covers band that played the music of Goblin, a 1970s Italian horror soundtrack band.
If you could have a conversation with any scientist, living or dead, who would it be?
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to get a medical degree in the US. She did so after a female friend said she might have suffered less with a recent illness if a female physician had treated her.
What scientific development do you hope to see in your lifetime?
A better understanding and treatment for dementia.
How useful will your skills be after the apocalypse?
I can knit, and I am quite good at growing vegetables.
OK, one last thing: tell us something that will blow our minds鈥�
The drug ketamine really is a horse tranquilliser, but it is also particularly useful in camel surgery.
Suzi Gage is . Her book is out now (Hodder and Stoughton) and she Tweets as
