Efsun Annac, Ph.D.

You are not alone in this journey I started writing blog posts on Ph.D. and stress because for a long time I couldn't find anything on the internet to guide me on this subject. Every post I found was about either quitting Ph.D., or being depressed during Ph.D. None of the posts could reflect what I have been through or were a translation of what I felt. Today's post is to remind you that you are not alone . Ph.D. stress is something all Ph.D.'s should be aware of. Many times we don't even realize how demanding Ph.D. can be with its regular stress. Deadlines, experiments, meetings and all the problems you encounter with occupy your mind and make you feel like having a stressful day is a normal routine. However, dealing with stress in those busy days is not easy when you are overwhelmed with the work. Sometimes the frustration of not being able to deal with everything in a limited time makes your life miserable, and accept it or not, you are the only person who has t...

Ph.D. life is quite stressful with its ups and downs. Deadlines, experiment problems, analysis, meeting pressures, presentations, future worries, anxiety, existential crises, mistakes etc. make your life miserable sometimes. As a Ph.D. candidate, I have spent a big part of my Ph.D. worried, frustrated and stressed about several issues. One day, I even decided to quit and talked to my supervisor, and I am not a quitter. After a while, I started to have health problems, and as my doctors told me, they were due to stress. (Okay okay, I admit, caffeine also had a big role! Never start your day with 2 cups of coffee and no breakfast....) After a while, you become better at dealing with problems. However, dealing with stress is not so easy when you are not even aware of it.  The physical effects of stress make you miserable. I remember many times I couldn't calm myself down for a long time even after solving a problem or submitting my paper. In the end, I decided to ...