WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Can Getting a Doctorate Affect Your Mental Health?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.480
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio High

0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:09.080
<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. I'm more in Volga Bam and today's episode

0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.399
<v Speaker 1>is a classic from our erstwhile host of Christian Sagar.

0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.120
<v Speaker 1>Some students are returning to school right now, and with

0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.440
<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen still raging in some areas, it's an extra

0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.799
<v Speaker 1>stressful start to the year. But research has shown that

0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.759
<v Speaker 1>stress and depression are a really common part of especially

0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:31.319
<v Speaker 1>higher learning. Hey, brain Stuff, it's Christian Sagar here. We

0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.440
<v Speaker 1>all get sick of school, right. It's a common complaint

0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.239
<v Speaker 1>for students at large. But when you hear a doctoral

0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.080
<v Speaker 1>students say it, listen up. Mental health problems are more

0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:45.640
<v Speaker 1>prevalent in PhD students than in the highly educated population

0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:51.199
<v Speaker 1>in general, including highly educated employees and students, according to

0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:56.120
<v Speaker 1>recent research published in the journal Research Policy. The study

0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.160
<v Speaker 1>highlights concerns about the influence that academic working conditions have

0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:04.800
<v Speaker 1>on mental health, particularly among PhD students in a range

0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.800
<v Speaker 1>of disciplines. The researchers surveyed three thousand, six hundred and

0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:13.759
<v Speaker 1>fifty nine PhD students in Flanders, Belgium using a General

0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.759
<v Speaker 1>Health questionnaire. This is a twelve question mental health screening

0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:22.040
<v Speaker 1>tool that assesses a person's well being and potentially psychological

0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.800
<v Speaker 1>distress in light of mental health disorders. Now PhD programs

0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.280
<v Speaker 1>in Europe. They're similar to those in the US in

0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:33.520
<v Speaker 1>many ways, but there are some differences, including students having

0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:38.919
<v Speaker 1>generally lower fees, shorter program terms, and a formal employment

0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.600
<v Speaker 1>contract with their universities. In Europe, the g h Q

0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:47.360
<v Speaker 1>questions focused on symptoms of depression and social dysfunction, from

0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.000
<v Speaker 1>constant strain and unhappiness to lack of concentration and losing

0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.040
<v Speaker 1>self confidence, using the version of the g h Q

0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.160
<v Speaker 1>that requires the presence of four symptoms to consider a

0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.600
<v Speaker 1>person ill. The research has found that thirty two percent

0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.160
<v Speaker 1>of the PhD students assessed were at risk of having

0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:11.320
<v Speaker 1>or developing a common psychiatric disorder, namely depression. Some of

0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.919
<v Speaker 1>the more common feelings students reported were sleeping problems due

0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.320
<v Speaker 1>to worries, and the inability to get over difficulties and

0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:23.480
<v Speaker 1>enjoy everyday activities. Thirty two percent is a notable amount

0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.799
<v Speaker 1>considering data from the World Health Organization indicates that depression

0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:31.840
<v Speaker 1>is the leading cause of ill health and disability in

0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.640
<v Speaker 1>the world, and when the researchers compared the risk of

0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.800
<v Speaker 1>psychiatric disorders and PhD students to that of the highly

0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:46.400
<v Speaker 1>educated general population, highly educated employees, and high education students.

0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.160
<v Speaker 1>They discovered that it was significantly higher for PhD students

0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.840
<v Speaker 1>two point four three, two point eight four, and one

0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.960
<v Speaker 1>point eight five times, respectively. It's easy to think that

0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.360
<v Speaker 1>the heavy academic workload causes all the pressure, but the

0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:06.320
<v Speaker 1>researchers found that work environment and organizational policies also contribute

0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:12.040
<v Speaker 1>to psychiatric issues. Work family balance difficulties, high job demands,

0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:17.359
<v Speaker 1>low job control, laser fair or passive leadership style and supervisors,

0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:21.399
<v Speaker 1>and even a team culture of closed decision making, where

0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.960
<v Speaker 1>all factors linked to potential mental health problems. On the

0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.079
<v Speaker 1>other hand, mental health was better in PhD students who

0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:34.440
<v Speaker 1>add advisors with an inspirational leadership style, desired an academic career,

0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:39.600
<v Speaker 1>and valued their degree outside of academia. The studies authors

0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.040
<v Speaker 1>aren't saying that working in academia or pursuing a doctoral

0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:47.560
<v Speaker 1>degree is definitively bad for your health, but their findings

0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.840
<v Speaker 1>do indicate that the stressors of being a PhD student

0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.120
<v Speaker 1>are more than a pain in the neck. If PhD

0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.600
<v Speaker 1>students work conditions and career outlook are inadequate, their mental

0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:06.960
<v Speaker 1>health may not the great. Today's episode was written by

0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.920
<v Speaker 1>Shelley Dancy and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Play.

0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.320
<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics, visit

0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.880
<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of i

0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.520
<v Speaker 1>Heeart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the

0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.240
<v Speaker 1>i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:21.280
<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows