3 Reasons Why Academia Causes Talented PhDs Stress, Anxiety, And Depression

“I’m going to be a doctor one day.”

I eagerly told my parents this while my Doctor Barbie was diagnosing my brother’s Hulk Hogan and André the Giant action figures.

“She’s going to be a doctor one day. Did you hear that? Wow, she’s so motivated at such a young age.”

There was a twinkle of pride in my parents’ eyes.

I was extremely dedicated to my studies all the way through high school.

I earned perfect grades and I skipped my senior year of high school to enter college early.

But I worked hard to be “well-rounded” too.

I was a cheerleader, softball player, trivia challenge scholar, foreign language club chair, charity board member, homecoming queen, flute player, waitress, and on and on.

I pursued a biology degree and eventually started working in a genetics lab.

I found myself surrounded by like-minded people who didn’t care about making money.

We fought to “selflessly” pursue a goal that would have a positive impact on the world.

We worked around the clock to prove our somewhat romantic dedication to academia.

I applied for scholarships and fellowships.

I was growing intellectually, but professionally I was going nowhere.

The desire to contribute and be a good scientist had blinded me to what was really happening in academia.

I wasn’t happy in academia.

As our lab’s funding continued to dry up, everyone became stressed.

Many prestigious scientists started to lash out in anger.

Over time, I lost my confidence.

I started questioning whether or not I had any value to offer the world.

To rebuild my self-esteem, I tried to reconnect with things that I enjoyed outside of the lab.

I did yoga.

I rock climbed.

I even worked freelance as a scientific and medical writer.

Slowly but surely, I got stronger, physically and mentally.

I slowly started to feel more like myself again.

That’s when I stopped feeling like an annoying loser with a PhD just begging for money.

I also realized that it was time to leave academia.

I joined the Cheeky Scientist Association and learned how to craft an industry resume.

I realized my ability to communicate complex scientific topics made me unique and that this skill is highly coveted in industry.

And, although I was a shy introvert who dreaded going to networking events, I realized that I had the transferable skills I needed to engage industry professionals at these events.

Once I changed my approach, I started getting job offers.

A lot of job offers.

At one point, I had offers from two big pharma companies, three biotech start-ups, an academic journal, and a venture capitalist, all at the same time.

I went from feeling like a loser with nothing to offer to having multiple offers on the table.

Using the strategies I learned in the Cheeky Scientist Association, I was able to leverage these offers to found a consulting

company that allowed me to work with multiple clients at once.

I found a way to remain a scientist but to leave academia and bench work behind forever.

Why Academia Is A Breeding Ground For Despair

It took me a long time to get my PhD.

But, eventually, I managed to graduate.

Now it was time to take the next step in my career.

My gut told me to leave academia immediately but instead, out of fear and ignorance, I stayed in the system.

I signed up for my first postdoc and regretted every minute of it.

I remember asking myself, “Why am I here?”

“Why am I doing this postdoc?”

“Why didn’t someone tell me that a postdoc will do NOTHING for my career?”

A report from The Postdoctoral Experience Revisited highlighted the shocking truth about doing a postdoc—a postdoc is a “lousy decision” for PhDs.

An academic postdoc will neither result in an academic job nor otherwise advance your career.

Thanks for telling me!

This is why there is a pile-up of postdocs around the world.

In fact, a report by the Boston Globe discusses data from the National Institutes of Health showing that there are between 37,000 and 68,000 postdocs in the U.S. alone.

But I didn’t know this.

And I wanted to impress others.

So, rather than leave academia, I signed up for a postdoc.

It was one of the worst decisions I ever made.

How Academia Causes PhDs Stress, Anxiety, And Depression

Why did I feel guilty?

No one told me that I would always feel guilty in graduate school.

But I did.

I felt guilty for having one afternoon to myself.

I felt guilty for getting to the lab 5 minutes later than my PI.

I felt guilty for eating lunch.

I knew that all the top scientists worked days, nights, and weekends.

I knew that scientists were supposed to be robots.

I also felt a deep sense of shame.

I felt like a failure.

My undergraduate friends had recently purchased beautiful homes, were having families, and were already paying off significant chunks of their student loan debts.

I hit a low point in the middle of graduate school.

I had a lot of debt and there was no PhD in sight.

But this was normal, though I didn’t know it at the time.

In fact, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) Project on Student Debt, the average borrower in the U.S. will graduate with $26,600 in loans.

I became angry.

I became envious of anyone I knew who became successful.

In short, I became a PhD with a weak mindset.

I grappled with depression, irritation, and anxiety.

It wasn’t until years later when I got out of academia that I realized why the academic system had hurt my career.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized exactly how academia ruins the careers of talented PhDs.

Here are 3 reasons why academia causes PhDs stress, anxiety, and depression…

1. Academia operates on an ambiguous timeline.

Most dissertations are self-directed.

According to a report by CBS MoneyWatch, it takes the average student 8.2 years to get through a PhD program.

The same report found that the average student is 33 years old before earning their PhD.

Here’s the problem…

Academic timelines are subjective and are rarely followed by advisory committees. 

There are very few checks and balances to ensure that work is completed in a timely fashion.

The only real deadline is money.

When the money runs out, maybe you’ll be allowed to graduate.

Or maybe not.

Even without funding, many PIs ask graduate students and postdocs to work for free to complete projects.

How many times have you been asked by family and friends when you would graduate?

How do you answer?

Next year.

One day.

Soon.

You get to the age when it is no longer acceptable to ask for a student discount at the movie theater or museum, and yet, you’re still labeled (and paid) as a student.

The lack of concrete endpoints makes it difficult for PhDs to plan for the next step in their careers.

The lack of agreed upon timelines ruins many PhD careers.

Doing a PhD for 5-10 years and then a postdoc for 5-10 years afterwards is a career.

A career that goes NOWHERE.

The only way to avoid this is to start setting your own career deadlines.

Map out when you are going to leave academia and which industry jobs you’re interested in transitioning into.

Once you have a strategy and timeline in place, start executing it as your top priority.

2. You’re never allowed to feel a sense of progress or accomplishment.

Academic PhDs are harsh critics.

They constantly rip apart their own data to find alternative meanings to results or holes in their experimental designs.

This is a good thing.

The problem is that many academics turn their critical eye on other people and on themselves.

They let their harsh critiques cross over from the professional into the personal.

It’s impossible to feel a sense of growth and accomplishment when you’re constantly being attacked.

It’s impossible to know your own value when you’re constantly attacking yourself.

For most PhDs, graduate school is their first experience with failure.

Many graduate students were academic superstars at their previous universities.

Then they started doing bench work.

And that’s when the world started crashing down around them.

Failure. Failure. Failure.

Successful experiments are few and far between.

Even if an experiment is successful, it’s rarely celebrated.

The only celebration that occurs is when a paper is finally published or a grant is finally funded.

In the meantime, PhDs slog forward with nothing to look forward to.

No recognition.

No appreciation.

No decent paycheck.

Academia is where appreciation goes to die.

Without a sense of being appreciated, without a sense of growth and accomplishment, PhDs stop valuing themselves.

They start to feel as though they are unable to apply their skills to positions outside of academia. 

After all, if they can’t be successful in academia, how can they survive out in the “real world?”

This is what they think.

This mindset prevents many PhDs from finding their true calling.

It keeps them glued to the bench, hoping for a big breakthrough that never comes.

The only way to prevent yourself from sinking into a pit of despair and losing your self-esteem is to start managing your stress now, not later.

Realize that you are more successful than 98% of the world in terms of your technical skills and education, as less than 2% of the population has a PhD.

Remember your value and your worth.

Focus on your strengths and leverage them OUTSIDE of the academic system, not just in the system.

Most importantly, be gentler on yourself personally.

Be ruthless with your data, but be kind to yourself.

3. A single academic advisor will make or break your academic experience.

Unbelievably, the success of your graduate studies is in the hands of one academic advisor.

Then, if you do a postdoc, your success is in the hands of your PI who controls the lab.

This would never be allowed in any other industry.

It wasn’t allowed in your undergrad program—you had a variety of professors to rely on, as well as university counselors, and an entire infrastructure to prevent you from being harassed and abused.

It won’t be allowed in your first industry job either—you’ll have a clear management chain, human resource departments, and many business laws protecting you from abuse.

So, why is this allowed in graduate school?

Academic advisors are well-known to exploit graduate students.

The terminology of being treated “like a slave” or “like an indentured servant” in academia is common for a reason.

PhDs perform the grunt work their advisors and PIs are unwilling to do, like teaching undergraduates, mentoring new members of the lab, grading papers, and performing meaningless experiments just to keep a grant going.

PhDs do this because they are afraid of not being successful.

They’re afraid that their mentors will turn on them and ruin their careers.

They’re afraid of not getting a letter of recommendation.

They’re afraid of being looked down upon too.

For many PhDs, the desire to leave academia is a source of shame created by professors, academic advisors, and PIs.

This is why most PhDs hide their desires to leave academia from their advisors.

These PhDs know that their advisors will not only make them feel stupid for wanting to transition into industry, but they will become resentful.

Many advisors become so resentful that they actively try to hold back the careers of talented graduate students and postdocs.

If this happens to you, don’t stay silent about it.

Reach out to others at your institution for help.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid of a professor, an advisor, or a PI.

The truth is, these lifetime academics are powerless.

They have no power and no connections outside of academia.

Stay true to yourself and your desires and don’t be afraid to plan a life and career for yourself outside of academia.

Now is the time to find your true calling outside of academia.  Don’t wait until you get your PhD or until you are 5 years into a postdoc.  Recognize the technical skills you have developed and set yourself apart by also developing the transferable skills you need to transition into an industry job of your choice. Start researching alternative careers and build your network outside of graduate school by attending non-scientific events. Reach out to employees in companies that interest you and set up informal conversations to discuss their career path and how to best prepare yourself for the successful career you deserve.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.