Itâs common knowledge that getting a PhD is hard. Itâs meant to be. Some even say that if youâre not up all night working or skipping meals, youâre 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 wasnât 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. I might not have felt so alone had I known how many people struggle with mental health issues in academia. 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. 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. The same article notes that the percentage of academics with mental illness in the United Kingdom has been estimated at 53%. ... Academia is understanding, but perhaps too accepting, that everyone has problems,â says Jane. âJust because many people do have mental health problems, itâs not ok that thatâs âhow it is.â
Thereâs an awful cost to getting a PhD that no one talks about - Quartz
