Mike Simpson
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Research Software Engineer Newcastle University |
Hi there! My name is Mike. I’m a 2025 SSI Fellow, and have been part of the RSE Community since I attended my first RSE Conference in 2017.
I am also someone who understands the importance of looking after your mental health, and what can happen when things go wrong. In 2011, my life was turned upside down in the space of a few short weeks, triggering a prolonged period of depression, anxiety and insomnia, and it took years of hard work and therapy to recover and turn my life around. Then, in 2020, I became a father, just a few weeks into the first of the UK’s national lockdowns during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You can read more about my experience in this blog post, but it led to burnout and an anxiety attack.
I have spoken openly about my mental health, including writing about it in blog posts, short stories and other resources, many of which are linked to in the posts below. I believe it is important to smash the stigma around mental health in general, and men’s mental health in particular.
Because of my experiences, I know first hand the challenges faced by RSEs, how they can impact our mental health, and what can happen when it all becomes too much. That is why I applied for the SSI Fellowship, so we can learn from my experiences and the experiences of others, and help make sure that no one else has to go through what I did.
Posts
The following blogs were authored by Mike Simpson:
Task Management for Humans as Self-Care
25 Apr 2025
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I’d been looking for ways to support mental health in the research software community, and a surprising idea emerged from a conversation at the SSI’s Collaboration Workshop in 2024. |
Working from Home
23 Mar 2025
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Working remotely has become part of most of our lives since the events of 2020. Working from home has its own challenges for our mental and physical health, so I’ve compiled a list of tips to look after yourself while working remotely. |
How Writing Saved My Life
20 Mar 2025
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Yes, I know, it’s an over-melodramatic and clickbait-y title. But it is definitely true that writing about my experiences enabled me to process what I’d been through and allowed me to finally recover after years of struggling with depression, anxiety and insomnia. |
My Backstory
14 Mar 2025
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I became a father in April 2020, a few weeks into the UK’s first COVID-19 lockdown. The challenges of being a new parent while holding down a job during the chaos and uncertainty led to a severe decline in my mental health and, ultimately, to burnout and an anxiety attack. |
