Recently, public discourse surrounding mental health has greatly changed. It used to be unusual for somebody to publicly talk about therapy, mental health crises, and taking care of their mental health on a preventative basis. However, public figures, such as the tennis player Naomi Osaka1 and Tim Paine2 and Ben Stokes3, cricket players for Australia and England respectively, have taken indefinite breaks from competition to prioritize their mental health, even when it meant missing critical opportunities. Despite these changes, PhD student depression and researcher mental health are challenges that remain poorly understood, including by researchers themselves. Here, we hope to summarize why researcher mental health is an important topic to discuss in research careers and what researchers can do for their own good.
Researcher mental health can be a struggle
There are promising signs that society is moving toward more compassionate and productive ways of dealing with mental health.4 However, certain careers pose unique challenges to mental health; it’s hardly surprising that some careers, such as police officer5, are stressful. However, researchers constitute another job category reporting high levels of personal stress, as detailed in The CACTUS Foundation Mental Health Survey 2020.6
Dealing with burnout
Burnout became recognized as an occupational phenomenon in the 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)7, and this description was further elaborated on in ICD-11.8 It is characterized by feelings of exhaustion, alienation, and negativity about one’s work. One study found that doctoral students have reported high levels of burnout, and these feelings are related to negative PhD mental health outcomes and the desire to drop out.9
Doing a PhD – Student Depression, anxiety, and stress
Among researchers, PhD student mental health is perhaps the most under pressure. The CACTUS Mental Health Survey 2020 Summary Report6 notes that PhD students are consistently the most likely to report feelings of being overwhelmed.
PhD students are usually expected to learn new concepts, conduct research, attend meetings and tutorials, and juggle teaching or assistant responsibilities. Furthermore, embarking on a PhD often involves the stress of moving to a new place (or indeed, a new country), finding a new social circle, and being away from loved ones. Add in the financial challenges on top, and it’s easy to see why about 40-50% of candidates never finish.10
As a PhD student, depression and anxiety about future prospects not only causes distress, but they can also lessen your effectiveness as a researcher, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Therefore, effectively dealing with factors that worsen mental health as a PhD student should be considered vital to succeed as a PhD scholar.
Reaching out for help
People often feel alone during mental health struggles, but the truth is that many people understand your feelings, and their support can make a crucial difference when you’re dealing with researcher mental health issues.
Often, a PhD candidate’s relationship with their supervisor is important for a PhD student’s mental health. A supervisor is often familiar with the challenges of a research career, and they can often serve as a vital source of moral support and useful advice. However, 26% of those surveyed in global researcher mental health survey disagreed that their supervisor was sufficiently supportive.6 This highlights the need for alternative means to support a PhD student’s mental health during their doctoral journey. Professional counselling can be useful, and up to 67% of researchers seeking treatment have used professional counsellors or therapists.6
Putting your wellbeing first
Researchers who have a poor work-life balance also report greater feelings of being overwhelmed at work.6 Even with heavy workloads, taking time to address this imbalance is crucial. One way of supporting researcher mental health and maintaining this balance is preventing work from creeping into your private life.
Offering help and being inclusive
Worryingly, many researchers report workplace bullying and harassment, which takes a toll on researcher mental health. Worse still, many mixed race and LGBT researchers reported being the target of higher levels of bullying than other colleagues.6 As peer support makes a vital difference to researcher mental health and even PhD student depression levels, fostering a friendly and inclusive environment will not only help provide you with more opportunities for peer support, but also help colleagues avoid stress and burnout.
Don’t wait for a crisis
As Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”11 You may be in good spirits despite a heavy workload right now, but it’s worth taking stock of your current lifestyle and coming up with plans to deal with a crisis. Even if you are handling work stress well, personal tragedies such as the breakdown of an important relationship or an unexpected death can wreck your researcher mental health and derail your career.
Conclusion
The life of a researcher is supposed to be one of discovery and fulfilment, but heavy workloads and uncertain futures leads to a struggle to fulfil their needs and maintain the good researcher mental health needed to be effective and happy in their research. The CACTUS Mental Health Survey 2020 Summary Report and the follow up report6 offer a wealth of information on the researcher mental health challenges of researchers and recommendations that institutions and leaders can enact to improve researcher mental health.
References:
- Naomi Osaka: ‘It’s O.K. Not to Be O.K.’ Timehttps://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/.
- Australia’s Tim Paine takes ‘indefinite mental health break’- manager. The Indian Expresshttps://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/australias-tim-paine-takes-indefinite-mental-health-break-manager-7641975/ (2021).
- Nakrani, S. & Paley, T. Ben Stokes takes indefinite break from cricket to ‘prioritise mental wellbeing’. The Guardian(2021).
- Lien, Y.-Y., Lin, H.-S., Tsai, C.-H., Lien, Y.-J. & Wu, T.-T. Changes in Attitudes toward Mental Illness in Healthcare Professionals and Students. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health16, 4655 (2019).
- Cranwell-Ward, J. & Abbey, A. The Most Stressful Jobs. Organizational Stress(eds. Cranwell-Ward, J. & Abbey, A.) 63–71 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2005). doi:10.1057/9780230522800_7.
- Cactus Foundation, Joy and stress triggers: A global survey on mental health among researchers, 2020. https://cactusglobal.com/mental-health-survey/index.php.
- Burn-out an ‘occupational phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases.
- ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics. https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en#/http://id.who.int/icd/entity/129180281.
- Burnout and Mental Health Problems in Biomedical Doctoral Students | CBE—Life Sciences Education. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.18-09-0198.
- Improving PhD completion rates: where should we start? https://www.wiley.com/network/researchers/writing-and-conducting-research/improving-phd-completion-rates-where-should-we-start.
- ‘An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure’. VOAhttps://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/an-ounce-of-prevention-is-worth-a-pound-of-cure-/5326585.html.
