Health Warning
Every PhD should come with a health warning! I suspect I may have suggested this in the past, but I say it again! They should! I was recently talking with my office-mate about my blog and how depressing it’s become, because of the thesis – he agreed, that if he had a blog, it would be darker than Satan’s boots right now! This set me thinking – when I think back to the troubles that me, my office-mate, and the various others whom I know who are currently in the midst of thesis-dom – I am astonished we’re all still alive! I can recall the various ailments, issues and experiences of those around me, and they include insomnia, panic attacks, terrible migraines, ordinary recurring headaches, skin conditions, depression (of varying degrees), palpitations, appetite issues, nightmares, exhaustion and…and..and…the list goes on. And this does not cover the obvious risks of the job, such as repetitive strain injury and back and neck problems caused by years spent hunching over books and computer keyboards. One graduate student who was close to completion was so distressed and so deeply mired in depression that he failed to submit and fled the country!!! My supervisor said to me before I started that it was perhaps the most psychologically demanding thing you could take on and certainly, never in any other job that I’ve done, or experience that I’ve trained for, has my entire life and self-worth relied so heavily on the comments and responses of one or two people to one document, one piece of my work!!
Ah well – finally I feel I’m getting there. Chapter five is almost finished (well, in draft form) and after that I’ll go back to revising the writing of all the chapters (again), and then attempting an introduction and a conclusion, and finally the biggest essay I’ve ever written will be done! Then, well – after it’s been examined and finished off – I can regain my life, my social life, my family life, and, most of all, my sanity. Thank god!
So glad to hear you feel you’re getting there. Well done!
Well, I was feeling that until around 4pm this afternoon! I had a meeting with Supervisor in which we discussed the work schedule for the coming 8 weeks. He said to me “if, over the next two months you find yourself *not* in the library, you seriously need to stop and ask yourself why”, quickly followed by “and you should be there daily waiting for the doors to open” – it opens at 8am on the other side of town (bus & subway ride away). I despair. Keep telling myself – it’s only 8 weeks, it’s only 8 weeks. I knew Christmas and New Year were going to be a write-off this year anyway. But still – bah.
HI…went thru ur blog…liked it in a way…Njoyd ur previous write ups for the obvious reason i want 2 do Phd in literature and that too in UK…n guess what i am completely clueless…
Found ur blog funny, humourous as well as thought provoking…waiting for some more… keep posting