Exposure at a Star Trek Convention

Part 1: Journalist Erika Check Hayden travels to Sierra Leone and sees ebola up close and personal for the first time. Part 2: As a child, psychologist Ali Mattu suffers from paralyzing social anxiety. Erika Check Hayden is an award-winning San Francisco-based science, health, and technology reporter. She writes for the science journal Nature, and on a freelance basis for a variety of publications. She is the incoming director of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Science Communication Program. Find her at erikacheck.com or on Twitter @Erika_Check. Ali Mattu is a clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety and body-focused repetitive behaviors (trichotillomania/hair-pulling disorder and excoriation/skin-picking disorder). He aspires to bring psychology to everyone, everywhere by hosting THE PSYCH SHOW, writing about the psychology of science fiction at Brain Knows Better, presenting to the public, and advocating for the brain and behavior sciences through the American Psychological Association. Dr. Mattu is an assistant professor at the Columbia University Medical Center.

Anxiety has been a part of my life since Kindergarten. It got in the way of being a Trekkie. But then Star Trek helped me find a way to face my fears. Thank you to The Story Collider for helping me to tell this story. 

COPD: Highly Illogical - A Special Tribute to Leonard Nimoy

Photo by Michael Loccisano, Getty Images

Photo by Michael Loccisano, Getty Images

Sometimes life comes together in surprising ways.

Earlier this month at Star Trek: Mission New York, I had the opportunity to work with Julie Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy's daughter, and help her tell the story of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the illness that took her father's life. She was generous, courageous, and wanted to do everything she could to ensure others don't suffer the way her father did. We shared stories about her father and she loved hearing about the impact he had on my life.

It was a wonderful moment in time that I will cherish.