{"id":2409,"date":"2019-04-25T12:22:51","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T12:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/the-phd-slump-is-not-a-myth\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:07:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:07:31","slug":"the-phd-slump-is-not-a-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/the-phd-slump-is-not-a-myth","title":{"rendered":"The PhD slump is not a myth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">When I first started my PhD two years ago, I heard whispers about a so called \u201cPhD slump.\u201d About how in the middle of the PhD journey, people want to scream, and cry, and give it all up. I thought it was a myth, something that happens to a few people, something that would never happen to me, because I was so grateful to get the opportunity to research something I was passionate about as my job.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Fast forward to a little over two years in (and add in a lot of additional stress outside my PhD), and here I am, in the damn slump. Oh, and I\u2019m not alone, most of my office is in the same slump. We joke that you can probably feel the stress when you walk in the door.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I can\u2019t say exactly why we are all here, but I guess it has to do with the fact that a PhD is a marathon, and we\u2019re exhausted. Everything takes longer than you think. You have a million and one setbacks. You are tired and living off caffeine and wine (or maybe that\u2019s just me). You start to forget why you started in the first place. You cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, and that \u2018Dr.\u2019 title seems impossible.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">Don\u2019t get me wrong, I still love my job. I am still grateful to be able to research shark conservation which I love, and I am grateful to get the opportunity to teach, and I am grateful to get to work my own hours. But I am in the slump.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">I however, feel like I am maybe, just slightly past the halfway point of the slump. When I am fully out (which I know will happen), I will write a post about the ways I managed to get through it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0in 0in 10pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\"><span style=\"line-height: 115%;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;\">But for now I want to say, if you too are in the slump, know that all us PhD students end up there so you are not alone. And start taking some time for yourself; after all, our health and wellbeing are the most important. Don\u2019t work 24 hours a day, you won\u2019t be as efficient. And most importantly, lean on the village you have around you.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><i>Brianna Le Busque\u00a0(<\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BriannaLeBusque\"><i>@BriannaLeBusque<\/i><\/a><i>)\u00a0or Dr. of What is a PhD candidate in Conservation Psychology. This story was published on March 15, 2018, on Brianna&#8217;s blog &#8216;<\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" title=\"Home\" href=\"https:\/\/drofwhat.com\/\"><i>dr.ofwhat?<\/i><\/a><i>&#8216; (available\u00a0<\/i><a style=\"color: blue; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/drofwhat.com\/2018\/03\/15\/the-slump\/\"><i>here<\/i><\/a><i>), and has been republished here with her permission.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I first started my PhD two years ago, I heard whispers about a so called \u201cPhD slump.\u201d About how in the middle of the PhD journey, people want to scream, and cry, and give it all up. I thought it was a myth, something that happens to a few people, something that would never [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1196,"featured_media":33313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2414],"tags":[2666,2454],"new_categories":[],"new_tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-researcher-stories","tag-phd-life","tag-researcher-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The PhD slump is not a myth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I first started my PhD two years ago, I heard whispers about a so called \u201cPhD slump.\u201d About how in the middle of the PhD journey, people want to scream, and cry, and give it all up. 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