1
00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,200
Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey, brain stuff,

2
00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,240
Speaker 1: it's Christian Seger here. We all get sick of school, right.

3
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,319
Speaker 1: It's a common complaint for students at large, but when

4
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,040
Speaker 1: you hear a doctoral students say it, listen up. Mental

5
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,959
Speaker 1: health problems are more prevalent in PhD students than in

6
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,960
Speaker 1: the highly educated population in general, including highly educated employees

7
00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: and students, according to recent research published in the journal

8
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,600
Speaker 1: Research Policy. The study highlights concerns about the influence that

9
00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,480
Speaker 1: academic working conditions have on mental health, particularly among PhD

10
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,360
Speaker 1: students in a range of disciplines. The researchers surveyed three thousand,

11
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,839
Speaker 1: six hundred and fifty nine PhD students in Flanders, Belgium

12
00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,920
Speaker 1: using a General Health Questionnaire. This is a twelve question

13
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,400
Speaker 1: mental health screening tool that assesses a person's well being

14
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 1: and potentially psychological distress in light of mental health disorders. Now,

15
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,039
Speaker 1: PhD programs in Europe they're similar to those in the

16
00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,759
Speaker 1: US in many ways, but there are some differences, including

17
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:15,040
Speaker 1: students having generally lower fees, shorter program terms, and a

18
00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,400
Speaker 1: formal employment contract with their universities. In Europe, the g

19
00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,160
Speaker 1: h Q questions focused on symptoms of depression and social dysfunction,

20
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,800
Speaker 1: from constant strain and unhappiness to lack of concentration and

21
00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,200
Speaker 1: losing self confidence. Using the version of the g h

22
00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,320
Speaker 1: Q that requires the presence of four symptoms to consider

23
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,919
Speaker 1: a person ill, the researchers found that thirty two percent

24
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,480
Speaker 1: of the PhD students assessed were at risk of having

25
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:48,640
Speaker 1: or developing a common psychiatric disorder, namely depression. Some of

26
00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,200
Speaker 1: the more common feelings students reported were sleeping problems due

27
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,600
Speaker 1: to worries and the inability to get over difficulties and

28
00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 1: enjoy everyday activities. Thirty two percent is a notable amount

29
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 1: considering data from the World Health Organization indicates that depression

30
00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 1: is the leading cause of ill health and disability in

31
00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,960
Speaker 1: the world. And when the researchers compared the risk of

32
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,120
Speaker 1: psychiatric disorders and PhD students to that of the highly

33
00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:23,400
Speaker 1: educated general population, highly educated employees, and high education students,

34
00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,480
Speaker 1: they discovered that it was significantly higher for PhD students

35
00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 1: two point four three, two point eight four, and one

36
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,240
Speaker 1: point eight five times, respectively. It's easy to think that

37
00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,640
Speaker 1: the heavy academic workload causes all the pressure, but the

38
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,639
Speaker 1: researchers found that work environment and organizational policies also contribute

39
00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:49,320
Speaker 1: to psychiatric issues work family balanced difficulties, high job demands,

40
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,840
Speaker 1: low job control, laser fair or passive leadership style and supervisors,

41
00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 1: and even a team culture of closed decision making, where

42
00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:03,280
Speaker 1: all factors linked to potential mental health problems. On the

43
00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,360
Speaker 1: other hand, mental health was better in PhD students who

44
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:11,760
Speaker 1: had advisers with an inspirational leadership style, desired an academic career,

45
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 1: and valued their degree outside of academia. The studies authors

46
00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,359
Speaker 1: aren't saying that working in academia or pursuing a doctoral

47
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,840
Speaker 1: degree is definitively bad for your health, but their findings

48
00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,120
Speaker 1: do indicate that the stressors of being a PhD student

49
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,440
Speaker 1: are more than a pain in the neck. If PhD

50
00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,880
Speaker 1: students work conditions in career outlook are inadequate, their mental

51
00:03:35,920 --> 00:04:00,000
Speaker 1: health may not make the grade. Today's episode was written

52
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,480
Speaker 1: by Shelley Danzy, produced by Tristan McNeil, and For more

53
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,480
Speaker 1: on this and other topics, please visit us at how

54
00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:18,960
Speaker 1: stuff works dot com.