It’s fucking terrible. I was on something by year 2…
Having a PhD is awesome. Getting one is awful.
Mental hell
Submitted 8 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/fdd1b0b4-41aa-4b32-b2b7-4ec8edd090f9.jpeg
Comments
Yeller_king@reddthat.com 8 months ago
YourPrivatHater@ani.social 8 months ago
The smarter you get the more you realize that the world is fucked up… But after the peek you learn that there are joys and that you just don’t geht children and hope to die before the worst happens.
Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Stuck on peak, please send rescue.
Emmie@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I went the route of substance desensitisation and copious amounts of self delusion. I am doing super fine 💪
flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Is the paper itself product of a PhD study?
BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
And they only managed to finish because of all the meds.
Sometimes you are forced to change the subject part way through a PhD, and this was a subject very close to the writer.
1984@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Being dumb is being happy.
Nythos@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Not true
I am both dumb and unhappy
1984@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Well some people win the lottery. :p
drd@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Ignorance is bliss
Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
You can be dumb as rocks and still get a PhD. I’ve worked with some special “doctors”.
anzo@programming.dev 8 months ago
It’s difficult to know if this might just be a correlation to age of onset, plus the effect of new project or career. Maybe other graduates of similar careers that doesn’t go into PhD programmes would be a nice control. But there’s no curve there. Alas, I know academia is difficult. But I wouldn’t dare drawings conclusion without a proper comparison.
TheBloodFarts@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I completed my PhD with the sole purpose of landing a job in big pharma (which I did). The curve is accurate with regard to my experience
Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Maybe it’s Sweden?
aaaaace@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
Stockholm syndrome?
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 8 months ago
maybe it is the graduate students that are giving the phd’s programs depression
optissima@possumpat.io 8 months ago
Millenial graduate students are ruining PHD!
weariedfae@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m staring at a PhD and genuinely considering it. I already have an M.S. and that was brutal. But my career stalled and nobody is hiring. Plus I hate myself. Should I do it?
I just want to do a cool project. I have no interest in academia, lol.
reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 8 months ago
If it sounds interesting and other things just don’t I say go for it if you can get a funded position. Definitely ask other students before choosing an advisor so that you don’t get someone who is completely unavailable or a dick
TheBloodFarts@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
What’s your field
weariedfae@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Geology. A PhD is unnecessary unless you want to work in academia (bleh) or for the USGS, which is prestigious but hard to get into even with a PhD. So I’ve heard. There likely would be no appreciable salary increase and in fact would fall into the “overqualified” trap. Master’s is the standard level employers desire.
I’m unemployed and bummed about it and looking at the PhD because having a project like that sounds awesome.
Paraponera_clavata@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Link anyone?
Isoprenoid@programming.dev 8 months ago
lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/…/WP24_5
The figure shown appears on page 9
Goodie@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Partner has a phd. Can confirm she recommends no one ever do it.
She only finished it out of spite, so her paper work no longer has miss/Mrs and no relation to her marriage status.
machiabelly@hexbear.net 8 months ago
Why is it so bad?
reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 8 months ago
This just confirms what every young person in academia knows: gotta get on uppers to be competitive.
My partner is a PhD candidate and at a recent party a postdoc was telling us how he acquired a giant crack rock at the beginning of his grad career and whenever he needed to finish a big assignment or something he would lick it.
Bassman1805@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This definitely seems like the more likely explanation. There certainly is a mental/emotional hell to go through, but with three y-axis being specifically about psychiatric medication… all I’m seeing is that grad students like/need Adderall.
ThoGot@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I was thinking more antidepressants and less Adderall
ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Are doctorate/grad school programs distinctly competitive? My impression was that they were more challenging but similar in nature to undergrad insofar as loads of coursework to stay on top of to complete courses and ensure you got some of the most expensive, “You endured it!” paperwork in the world.
restingboredface@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
I agree with other replies here with one addition. People who get into grad school are generally the high achievers from their high school and undergrad programs, so they are used to being the only or one of few star students. In PhD programs everyone is a star student, so it can be a bit jarring to folks used to being head of the class when they suddenly aren’t.
It can cause a bit of jealousy and competitive thinking but most of the time students get past it and focus simply on enduring the gauntlet.
reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 8 months ago
Getting a. PhD isn’t super competitive (speaking from the US), but if you aim to get a professorship at an R1 it’s somewhat competitive across the board. The program coursework vs undergrad depends on the program too— I would say most differ somewhat substantially though. For most humanities degrees you’re doing coursework for 2-3 years and teaching undergrads while you prepare for qualifying exams, then you teach and write your thesis for a few more. The graduate courses are often in seminar (circle discussion) format rather than lecture.
Contramuffin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Definitely not the same, at least in my experience. It differs by field, but in my field, grad programs basically have zero classes, and whatever classes there are are generally automatic A’s. In turn, the difficulty comes from the fact that you are basically in indentured servitude to your advisor, and there is no actual recourse for trivial things like “overwork” and “burnout.”
I know of people who did 70 hour work weeks, and for a period of time, I had to do that as well. Also, you get paid less than you would if you had just gotten a 40 hour per week job at a company.
Anyways, the advisor that you pick really makes or breaks your experience.
quixotic120@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Depends on the program. Diploma mills for graduate degrees absolutely exist but many are extremely competitive.