A PhD is hard. Plenty of people have blogged about mental health problems while doing a PhD e.g.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/careers\/2017\/04\/phd-students-face-significant-mental-health-challenges <\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/higher-education-network\/2014\/mar\/01\/mental-health-issue-phd-research-university<\/a><\/p>\n In some ways I have an advantage as in addition to my Asperger Syndrome<\/a> diagnosis I have a long history of anxiety and depression going right back to my early teens so am already equipped for dealing with mental health difficulties. Here is what I have found:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Imperial College has a\u00a0Student Counselling and Mental Health Advice Service which can provide counselling and maybe a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) both of which I have used and found essential for getting through my PhD. CBT has been particularly useful for me as it challenges some of the negative and self-critical thoughts which inevitably creep in when you are working at your highest ability. It does not get rid of such thoughts (indeed, I think a little is needed to keep persevering a difficult academic questions) but does help me manage them. If you have a mental health diagnosis you may also be entitled to Disabled Student Allowance and a specialist mentor who can also help with things such as motivation, organisation and concentration.<\/p>\n When I had a bout of depression as an undergraduate I waited way too long to let my tutor know I was having difficulties, by then I was so far behind I had to withdraw from university (it worked out ok in the end though as you can see). Now I make sure I let my supervisors know when I’m going through a bad patch and discuss how to manage that – such as which parts of work to prioritise.<\/p>\n Part of my secondary mental health care treatment involved making a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). It’s a document that describes how you can keep well, what can trigger a bad patch and what the early warning signs are and ways to help you feel better. I don’t always refer to the paper document these days but just creating one helped me be more aware of how I’m feeling and how to stop myself becoming worse.<\/p>\n It is easy to feel you have to work all the time during a PhD but my supervisors all say that it should be considered as a job and that days off and actual holidays are important. Switch on your out-of-office notifications, take email of your phone and do something other than work for a while.\u00a0I find this advice hard to take as even when I am not working I am usually thinking about my PhD work or other topics!<\/p>\n Imperial College Student mental health advice<\/a><\/p>\nThere is help available<\/h4>\n
Ask for help early<\/h4>\n
Have a plan<\/h4>\n
Take breaks<\/h4>\n
Here are some useful links:<\/h4>\n