PhD Burnout: Causes and Remedies

By Dr Lonny Ness

Higher education is demanding, but at the same time both rewarding and frustrating. Students at this level are by their very nature, over achievers. As such, the tendency is to keep their nose to the grindstone early in the program to see immediate results and strive for program completion as soon as possible. However, as has been widely stated, a doctorate is more of a marathon than a sprint. Therefore, the key is for students to balance and to pace themselves. I often find students over-committing and then experiencing stress and burnout. There are definitely periods where intense focus and long hours are required, but that should not be occurring regularly or for long periods.

According to Rutgers (n.d.)

I believe our culture fosters the delusion that if we just work harder, everything will fall into place. Unchecked, relentless stress leads to burnout, where those limited resources that were being drawn on by everything going on in life have been completely used up

To deal with stress and burnout, Rutgers (n.d.) continues to suggest the following remedies:

• Start and end your day with a relaxing activity/ritual
• Unplug from technology daily
• Separation of home and lab
• Set boundaries and be assertive in prioritizing your well-being
• Tell someone!
• Take breaks and time off
• Utilize support systems

In conclusion, Rutgers (n.d.) offers:

When the burnout has already happened, it’s not too late! After you’ve reached your breaking point, it’s time to employ more intense strategies.

As a dissertation coach, I regularly work with clients who are experiencing tremendous stress levels - for various reasons - including a lack of progress in the doctoral program, a lack of support and communications from their supervisor/chair/advisor, and/or time limit on their doctorate program is nearing an end (typical limit is 7 years). According to O’Shaunessy (2012), the average student requires 8.2 years! This is confirmed by Gradeschools.com (2019) as most students require 5-6 years, with many between 7-9 years to graduate. With the average time-to-completion of 6+ years for doctoral degrees (tbd), it’s easy to see that any, or all of these factors may be experienced.

Working with a dissertation coach can help relieve PhD stress by:

• Establishing a plan for completion
• Having a “voice” with regular feedback
• Measurable progress and “successes”
• A “go-to” resource for timely and expert advise and encouragement
• Quicker PhD completion *
• Lower overall tuition (and debt) *
• While quicker completion and lower costs are the goal, these cannot be guaranteed due to processes outside the control of the dissertation coach

In conclusion, stressors exist for those pursuing a doctorate, and are often unavoidable; however, these do not need to control and limit success, but can be managed to help reduce the impact on the student.

 

 

References

Gradschools.com (2019). Masters Vs PhD: What is the Difference Between Masters & PhD/Doctorates. Retrieved from https://www.gradschools.com/get-informed/before-you-apply/choosing-graduate-program/masters-vs-phd

O’Shaunessy. L. (2012). 12 reasons not to get a PhD. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/12-reasons-not-to-get-a-phd/

Rutgers (n.d.). Stress and burnout in graduate school: Recognizing, preventing, and recovering. Retrieved from http://ijobs.rutgers.edu/wordpress/2015/10/27/stress-and-burnout-in-graduate-school-recognizing-preventing-and-recovering/#sthash.fxUS39pT.dpbs