Nearly half of PhD students consider developing a mental health problem 'normal'
By: Matt Bemment
Last updated: Monday, 13 December 2021
Dr Clio Berry from BSMS is co-lead of the research programme
Developing a mental health problem is considered a ‘normal’ part of the PhD process by 42% of students, according to a new study involving researchers from Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), the University of Sussex and the University of Westminster.
The study investigated depression and anxiety levels through a nationwide survey of PhD students in the UK that asked them questions about their mental health. Over 3,000 PhD students completed the survey, as well as a matched control group of 1,168 working professionals.
They discovered that compared to working professionals, PhD students are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, and found initial evidence that PhD studies might be causative of this.
“These findings suggest that anxiety and depression are significantly elevated amongst PhD students, and that this does not appear to be because people who choose to do a PhD are just more prone to mental health problems,” said Dr Clio Berry, co-lead of the research programme for the U-DOC (Understanding DOCtoral researcher mental health) project, which generated the data analysed in the paper, and Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Evaluation and Improvement at BSMS. “Whilst a PhD should be, and often is, a tremendously positive and transformative experience, it is also a high-stress and frequently isolated occupation.
“A PhD often coincides with huge other life stressors too - and many PhD students experience significant financial challenges. Students really do need to be able to access effective mental health support services designed with their needs and preferences in mind. Supervisors should be provided with training and support in helping to identify when PhD students may have a mental health support need and to help guide them to available help.”
Dr Berry added: “It is important to also note that the broader U-DOC programme found that lonely PhD students are much more likely to experience greater depression and anxiety. This really is the time for institutions, and individual schools, departments and supervisors, to reflect and consider how to create more sustainable opportunities for social connection.”
The new collaborative research, which is the biggest ever controlled study on PhD student mental health and the first of its kind based in the UK, examined the mental health of PhD students and some factors that might increase their risk or protect against poor mental health. It comes after a recent international survey conducted by Nature, which found that 36% of current doctoral researchers reported seeking help for anxiety and/or depression.
The researchers also found that more than a third (35.8%) of PhD students considered ending or taking a break from their studies due to poor mental health, while over 14% had formally suspended their studies due to mental health problems.
Lead author of the study Dr Cassie Hazell, Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Westminster, said: “PhD students are a key part of the university community and are the future of research. Our findings demonstrate that a worrying proportion of PhD students are experiencing clinically significant levels of poor mental health that exceed those seen in other working professionals. It seems clear to us that there is something about the PhD process that is triggering mental health problems, and that a paradigm shift is needed. Without this change, PhD students, academia and society as a whole will suffer.”
The U-DOC team are now working to understand which factors may explain heightened anxiety and depression among PhD students to inform preventative measures and interventions that will improve and protect mental health among these students.
The study was published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications and funded by Office for Students and Research England.