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Related: About this forumThere’s an awful cost to getting a PhD that no one talks about
by Jennifer Walker
One night during the third year of my PhD program, I sat on my bed with a packet of tranquilizers and a bottle of vodka. I popped a few pills in my mouth and swigged out of the bottle, feeling them burn down my throat. Moments later, I realized I was making a terrible mistake. I stopped, trembling as I realized what Id nearly done.
I called a friend and met her in a bar exactly halfway between my house and hers. That night changed things for both of us. She met the love of her lifethe bartender, who she later married. And I decided I wanted to live. The morning after, I found a therapist and considered quitting my PhD.
Its common knowledge that getting a PhD is hard. Its meant to be. Some even say that if youre not up all night working or skipping meals, youre doing it wrong. But while PhD students are not so naive as to enter the program expecting an easy ride, there is a cost to the endeavor that no one talks about: a psychological one.
The days I spent pursuing my PhD in physics were some of my darkest. It wasnt the intellectual challenges or the workload that brought me down; it was my deteriorating mental health. I felt unsupported, isolated and adrift in uncertainty. Anxiety attacks became a part of my daily life. I drank and cut myself. I sometimes thought I wanted to die.
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http://qz.com/547641/theres-an-awful-cost-to-getting-a-phd-that-no-one-talks-about/
darkangel218
(13,985 posts)daleanime
(17,796 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)national "expert" certifications; and, am currently batting around the idea of pursuing a PhD. I know the subject/Topic I wish to study/research, and know that, even, beginning the research, will position me to make a lot of money ...
But this article gives me pause.
Married to one, mother of one. There's a toll to be paid in terms of health.
sharp_stick
(14,400 posts)I knew it would be going in but it was a lot harder than I expected.
I didn't go this far down the rabbit hole nor did most of the people I know. There were several who didn't finish and just took off, they went on a different path.
I was lucky in that my supervisor and lab-mates were very supportive of me and my outside life. We weren't part of the stay in the lab 20 hours a day crew. Overall we published at least as much as those in the more competitive labs and we had a much lower drop out rate. We also had a better post-doc and post grad school employment rate because, I'm sure, we had a good familial lab environment.
You have to be very careful when choosing a PhD program. Make sure the lab and department fit your lifestyle, make sure when you interview that you meet more people you like than assholes.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)The number one thing going in is to get a sense of who you will be working with. Advisors come in all flavors, and some of the most brilliant ones are also the biggest egotistical assholes. Students make the mistake all the time in going for the CV, not the actual person.
It is a hell of a lot easier to succeed with a mentor who wants you to succeed and is flexible and creative. As opposed to one who is just using you for labor so they can move on to the next grant application.
Johonny
(20,851 posts)I really don't remember graduate school being that stressful other than the huge lack of money.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I loved it, it was a long climb up a not too steep climb up a mountain with tremendous views.
The anxiety was about passing the prelim and getting a tenure track position afterwards.
Javaman
(62,530 posts)one was my roommate for many years.
and the things I had witnessed dissuaded me from ever even thinking of trying.
divorces, separations, yes attempted suicides(as above) and a whole list of things that basically destroyed their personal lives and mental state.
those who made it through, were shells of the people I once knew.
Some people do very well and are able to keep it together and get their PhD. those folks are super human and are not of this earth.
Most do not. And sadly, they are then saddled with massive debt.
Just read the comic strip, "Piled High and Deeper". It's really not all that far off the mark.