Doesn’t it feel nice? The two letters backing your name—Dr. It feels intriguing, right? Pursuing research in the area of your interest, publishing your work, getting the highest academic qualification possible, and reaching new heights in your career. This is indeed one side of this coin. But how much are we aware of the other side, the emotional, physical, and mental well-being side of academia? Not much, I guess.
An Experience of Lifetime
As a fresh doctoral graduate, during my final thesis defense, when the examiner panel said that I was being awarded the PhD degree finally, I couldn’t react. I was numb, and I didn’t know what to say or do. I was smiling, laughing actually, but I had a lump in my throat. People say before dying life flashes in your eyes. As this journey was coming to an end, my PhD journey was flashing before my eyes—the ride, which was not a smooth one, but a roller coaster.
It’s not easy investing 4-5 years of your life in a degree where you have minimal support. Getting a supportive guide is like getting Aladdin’s lamp—as rare and perfect as it gets. Some of the most common issues that doctoral students face in general may include, but are not limited to:
- Working with someone who doesn’t understand your emotional and personal ups and downs
- seeing your peers getting settled in their well-paid jobs and actually enjoying their life ‘after studies’
- getting the same question of “When is your degree getting completed?” at every gathering
- battling procrastination, anxiety, depressive episodes, etc etc.
Is It a Lonely Journey?
It’s not a beautiful picture, is it? But the more people I talk to about this, the more I realize that this is the harsh truth about the PhD. You have to fight alone.
Got really dark really fast, no? So what should we do to deal with all this? How to maintain our emotional and mental well-being while riding this dark roller coaster of academia? I will share my experience, and I hope that can help you even in a very little way, if at all.
What Helped Me?
The thing that I found was really helpful was journaling. Writing down your own thoughts has a cathartic effect, and also it’s like sorting and arranging your brain cupboard, which is overflowing with thoughts and things to do. Secondly, do not forget your hobbies. Plan your day in such a way that it has at least 30 minutes for your hobbies, passion, or anything that soothes your soul. Thirdly, work smart, not hard. There are a lot of software and AI tools that can make your research journey as smooth as possible. You guys can comment down below, and I will do a separate post focusing on these tools.
Takeaway
So, in a nutshell, the journey is a roller coaster. But eventually I just want to say, listen to yourself and your heart. No one will judge if you take 6 years to complete or even leave the degree in between. The most important thing is ‘you.’ What do you want to do with your life? If you do complete it, yes, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world. If not, then it’s great too. You left something that wasn’t meant for you, and that’s a very healthy thing to do. I send my love and hopes to everyone courageous enough to pursue this degree, and I hope you conquer all the internal and external demons that will definitely visit you as guests during the journey.
Authored by: Dr. Shruti Verma