“It’s very common to feel an incompetent fraud, and usually to assume you’re the only one who feels that way,” she says. Imposter syndrome is a frequent problem among high-achieving students who find themselves surrounded with others like them, according to Linda*, a sociology professor from New Jersey. This fed into my anxiety as well as my depression. I felt as if I’d gotten this far in my academic career by fluke, and that the top grades I’d received during my undergraduate and master’s studies had been an administrative mistake. This was part of my problem even before signs of serious mental health problems arose. Other PhD students often suffer from imposter syndrome. “I didn’t have a very involved or hands on supervisor.” While he left the program in part to relocate with his partner, he says that “a more involved supervisor might have changed things.” “My biggest difficulty was the feeling of being cut adrift,” says Andrew*, a former PhD student in physics who dropped out months before finishing.
And in the often-Darwinian culture among graduate students competing for a handful of professorial jobs, too many people assume that psychological problems are only for the weak. īut the stiff-upper-lip attitude that pervades the ivory tower can prompt many people who struggle with mental health problems to keep their problems hidden, while others simply accept depression as par for the course. Because it is an earned research degree, those studying for a PhD are required. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. The same article notes that the percentage of academics with mental illness in the United Kingdom has been estimated at 53%. A Doctor of Philosophy ( PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil Latin: philosophiae doctor or doctor philosophiae) is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. A 2003 Australian study found that that the rate of mental illness in academic staff was three to four times higher than in the general population, according to a New Scientist article. A 2015 study at the University of California Berkeley found that 47% of graduate students suffer from depression, following a previous 2005 study that showed 10% had contemplated suicide. I might not have felt so alone had I known how many people struggle with mental health issues in academia. Perhaps you started out wanting to pursue research but have fallen in love with teaching. Periodically reevaluate your goalsboth whether you’re meeting them and whether the goals themselves need to change.
Anxiety attacks became a part of my daily life. Most universities have career centers that offer assistance with networking and other job-seeking skills. I felt unsupported, isolated and adrift in uncertainty. It wasn’t the intellectual challenges or the workload that brought me down it was my deteriorating mental health. The days I spent pursuing my PhD in physics were some of my darkest.