Studying A PHD DNT Suffer in Silence

Studying a PhD: don't suffer in silence
Doing a PhD has always been seen as a long and lonely business since the early 19th century
when the idea of the postgraduate researchdoctorate was first formally recognised at
Humboldt University, Germany. It is probably the toughest test anyone can face in academic
life. In the past, there was a very low completion rate of PhDs throughout the world. This
meant a lot of wasted time, money, much personal heartache andpsychological distress.
Since 2000, particularly in the UK, USA and Australia, there has been anincrease in skills
training, support and stricter guidelines of good practice to support PhD students through
their research.
There are patterns, such as that science students mostly complete quicker and in higher
numbers than social science, arts and humanitiesresearch students. Factors helping to
contribute to this include less isolation, greater levels of team work (although that brings its
own problems), more involvement with supervisors and more of a regulated work ethos, with
a requirement to attend daily laboratory sessions.
Arts, social sciences and humanities students can have a more isolated and
less structured experience. This means they have to be far more self-regulated and motivated,
but also more resilient to the inevitable disappointments and confusion of exploring what can
feel like an overwhelming area of research.
Good supervisors can help advise their students but can't teach them like undergraduates. It is
odd that students are selected for PhDs usually on the basis that they are good at passing
exams, while doctoral research requires a completely different set of educational and
psychological skills. Many PhD students find this very difficult, as long periods of isolated
study (or paralysed procrastination) can induce obsessive rumination. It is inevitable that
some students will focus on all the negative aspects of their work and experience, which can
create the conditions for depressive and anxious symptoms.
The percentage of students accessing the counselling service at Oxford is approximately
7.5%. This is within the normal range of access at UK universities and by no means the
highest figure of students accessing counselling services.
What is different at Oxford (and other research-focused universities such as Cambridge,
Imperial and LSE) is that there is a much higher proportion of students doing doctoral
research compared with most universities. Out of the 22,000 students at Oxford,
approximately 42% are postgraduates, either doing taught masters or doctoral research. 42%
of all students accessing the counselling service are postgraduates, giving an exactly
proportionate representation.
Typical challenges PhD students face and how to cope with them
Perfectionism
Being a perfectionist is setting oneself an impossible standard to achieve. If you are always
trying to do an impossible task it can be demoralising, demotivating and ultimately could
cause depression. A PhD thesis is something realistic to achieve; it doesn't have to win the
Nobel Prize. It can be excellent but will never be perfect.
Perfectionism can feel like a friend who you think is encouraging you but is actually the
enemy within, the perfectionist bully inside your head, undermining all your achievements. If
you are an absolute perfectionist you will always feel disappointed in yourself, others and
your experience of life.
Procrastination
There are lots of traps that can catch you out and turn you from a normal functioning
procrastinator to being a paralysed one. Research studentsoften have the misguided idea that
they work best through motivation alone. This does not get you through the many years of
academic hard slog when the work is not going well. This is why it is important to have
work and life structure, treating your PhD like a job with set working hours and targets on a
short, medium and long term basis.
Having a good work and life structure can help alleviate the pervasive anxiety of an internal
nagging voice saying you should be working.Break down your work into manageable
tasks rather than constantly feeling overwhelmed by the enormousness of your
research. Make sure you have your priorities right. It is easy to become distracted by many
other things, not just Facebook but things that seem to be work such as being a departmental
student rep, teaching, helping with others' research and various welfare and peer support roles
to name but a few. All of these are important but not the main task for a doctoral researcher.
Isolation
Doing a PhD can put pressure on all our sensitive spots. For many people, there is a fear of
being a fraud, or in psychological speak the "imposter syndrome". This often stops PhD
students from being honest with themselves and others when they are finding their research a
struggle. It is important to have honest and supportive relationships with other
researchers to provide valuable encouragement and reality checking. Raise concerns and get
support from your supervisor, your department or support services rather than wait until
things get into a crisis. Inez von Weitershausen gave helpful advice in her blog, especially
about choosing what works best for each different PhD student.
You also need to actively engage in the support that is offered. There is much support for
PhD students, but it will not be able to take away all the fears, confusion, hard graft and
sometimes feelings of despair that virtually all PhD students go through from time to time.
Unfortunately this is one of the hidden and necessary parts of learning to become an
independent academic researcher. Building up the resilience and skills to cope with the
uncertainty of researching a new area of academic knowledge is a great strength for all
future academics, researchers and very useful for life in general.
It is important not to deny that there are many and varied difficulties and problems in doing a
PhD, however, the risk is to make over-simplified explanations or causes. This can lead to
a blame culture which in the end can be unhelpful and harmful to finding real support.
Alan Percy is head of counselling at the University of Oxford and spokesperson for BACP
UC (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Universities and Colleges).

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Studying a PhD: don't suffer in silence

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