PhD Syndrome - Do others have it too? (Oct/04/2007 )

Hi Friends,
I am in the 4th year of my PhD. It has been a long hard road. The results have started trickling in. Although they are almost spectacular. I dont feel excited about them at all. I dont feel like doing anything. It feels like this is never going to end and even if it does its not going to amount to anything good later. I self doubt my skills, my results everything. No amount of pep talk from my boss seems to help. I had stellar funding up until now but it seems like the university stops caring once you've stepped over that 4 yr mark. Are there any other people out there who have felt this way but have overcome it?
I do not want ot spread my doom on this happy space here but I do need some support.

thanks heaps for listening

Oh my.. you just described the 4th year blues. I too am a 4th year grad student who's project is wonderful and I'm ready to start my first manuscript. My data is gorgeous and the novelty factor of my work is HUGE! My fellow lab mates are saying this is potentially a molecular cell paper... and I don't really care. All I know is I'm sick and tired of the lab. I want to care.. down deep I know it's still there but on the surface all I want is to stay in bed. I've been told that this is actually a normal slump you go through and it will get better. Hey.. at least you are getting pep talks from the boss. Mine just keeps pounding me down and telling me I'm not working hard enough, even with 80+ hours per week in the lab. My husband is miserable and tells me he doesn't get to spend enough time with me but my boss tells me there's no reason to go home. sigh. The only thing that gets me through (and may help you) is I stop and remind myself of why I came to grad school. What is the big picture? What is it I want in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Just have faith that what you are going through right now is completely normal and will pass. Sounds like you are doing great work... and it will pay off in the end. Some of the biggest accomplishments and achievements are the most difficult to obtain. Besides, if this was easy, everyone would have a PhD. right?? Reward yourself and remind yourself that you are doing something BIG (and very hard). Hang in there and just worry about today. Tomorrow comes soon enough. Hope to be of help. Feel free to message me if you need to vent to someone who understands.

yikes!
I felt the EXACT same way. That was me about a year ago. I despised walking into the lab and do any work. It felt like just walking around in circles: go into the lab, do an experiment, maybe get a result, then leave about 12 hrs later. I lost sight of what I really wanted.
So I did the same thing: I stopped and reminded myself of why I wanted to have a PhD and how it would help get me to where I wanted to be professionally.

After awhile, it does get easier.

Hope that helps.
Feel free to vent to me if you'd like. I've gone through it.

Thank you friends for taking the time to read , empathize and give suggestions. I have been feeling a lot better lately since my committee looked at my results and decided that I might be ready to put an end to this mysery. I really appreciate your being there when I most needed.

I have a different tale to tell. I loved every day of my PhD. I went thru a rotten time when my wife and I split and I found the lab (0700am til closing time at 2200) a wonderful place to be. My boss was super. Sometimes we'd have a pint..sometimes she'd crack the whip. I had a good crew to work with and socialise with as well.

Our Dept head really wanted us to complete within the 4years. I did. Almost to the day. I'd got enough data within 3 years and submitted the thesis and had the viva before the 4 year anniversary of my start date. I did have some corrections to make, after the viva, though.

Another factor in this was that I got a publication within my first 8 months and presented this at the national conference.

I always knew I was one of the lucky ones esp since others doing PhDs at the same time had all sorts of problems (wrong supervisor, wrong controls etc etc). But for me I had a wonderful boss, a great crew and lab and a very supportive HoD.

What I miss most now..no-one else in my social or even lab circle really understands what my team was looking at in that lab. Even where there are brains that could understand no-one has the time to look at it in depth. I have to dumb it all down and appreciate that it is geeky to outsiders.
But to us it's fantastic, isn't it.

I don't know what to offer you to hang in there since I didn't go through what you have been but having time out for a holiday and setting aside time to play and be with family can't be bad.