Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio High
Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm more in Volga Bam and today's episode
Speaker 1: is a classic from our erstwhile host of Christian Sagar.
Speaker 1: Some students are returning to school right now, and with
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen still raging in some areas, it's an extra
Speaker 1: stressful start to the year. But research has shown that
Speaker 1: stress and depression are a really common part of especially
Speaker 1: higher learning. Hey, brain Stuff, it's Christian Sagar here. We
Speaker 1: all get sick of school, right. It's a common complaint
Speaker 1: for students at large. But when you hear a doctoral
Speaker 1: students say it, listen up. Mental health problems are more
Speaker 1: prevalent in PhD students than in the highly educated population
Speaker 1: in general, including highly educated employees and students, according to
Speaker 1: recent research published in the journal Research Policy. The study
Speaker 1: highlights concerns about the influence that academic working conditions have
Speaker 1: on mental health, particularly among PhD students in a range
Speaker 1: of disciplines. The researchers surveyed three thousand, six hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty nine PhD students in Flanders, Belgium using a General
Speaker 1: Health questionnaire. This is a twelve question mental health screening
Speaker 1: tool that assesses a person's well being and potentially psychological
Speaker 1: distress in light of mental health disorders. Now PhD programs
Speaker 1: in Europe. They're similar to those in the US in
Speaker 1: many ways, but there are some differences, including students having
Speaker 1: generally lower fees, shorter program terms, and a formal employment
Speaker 1: contract with their universities. In Europe, the g h Q
Speaker 1: questions focused on symptoms of depression and social dysfunction, from
Speaker 1: constant strain and unhappiness to lack of concentration and losing
Speaker 1: self confidence, using the version of the g h Q
Speaker 1: that requires the presence of four symptoms to consider a
Speaker 1: person ill. The research has found that thirty two percent
Speaker 1: of the PhD students assessed were at risk of having
Speaker 1: or developing a common psychiatric disorder, namely depression. Some of
Speaker 1: the more common feelings students reported were sleeping problems due
Speaker 1: to worries, and the inability to get over difficulties and
Speaker 1: enjoy everyday activities. Thirty two percent is a notable amount
Speaker 1: considering data from the World Health Organization indicates that depression
Speaker 1: is the leading cause of ill health and disability in
Speaker 1: the world, and when the researchers compared the risk of
Speaker 1: psychiatric disorders and PhD students to that of the highly
Speaker 1: educated general population, highly educated employees, and high education students.
Speaker 1: They discovered that it was significantly higher for PhD students
Speaker 1: two point four three, two point eight four, and one
Speaker 1: point eight five times, respectively. It's easy to think that
Speaker 1: the heavy academic workload causes all the pressure, but the
Speaker 1: researchers found that work environment and organizational policies also contribute
Speaker 1: to psychiatric issues. Work family balance difficulties, high job demands,
Speaker 1: low job control, laser fair or passive leadership style and supervisors,
Speaker 1: and even a team culture of closed decision making, where
Speaker 1: all factors linked to potential mental health problems. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, mental health was better in PhD students who
Speaker 1: add advisors with an inspirational leadership style, desired an academic career,
Speaker 1: and valued their degree outside of academia. The studies authors
Speaker 1: aren't saying that working in academia or pursuing a doctoral
Speaker 1: degree is definitively bad for your health, but their findings
Speaker 1: do indicate that the stressors of being a PhD student
Speaker 1: are more than a pain in the neck. If PhD
Speaker 1: students work conditions and career outlook are inadequate, their mental
Speaker 1: health may not the great. Today's episode was written by
Speaker 1: Shelley Dancy and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Play.
Speaker 1: For more on this and lots of other topics, visit
Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of i
Speaker 1: Heeart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the
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