WEBVTT - Getting a Doctorate Can Affect Your Mental Health

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from how stuff works. Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Seger here. We all get sick of school, right.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a common complaint for students at large, but when

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<v Speaker 1>you hear a doctoral students say it, listen up. Mental

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<v Speaker 1>health problems are more prevalent in PhD students than in

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<v Speaker 1>the highly educated population in general, including highly educated employees

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<v Speaker 1>and students, according to recent research published in the journal

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<v Speaker 1>Research Policy. The study highlights concerns about the influence that

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<v Speaker 1>academic working conditions have on mental health, particularly among PhD

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<v Speaker 1>students in a range of disciplines. The researchers surveyed three thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>six hundred and fifty nine PhD students in Flanders, Belgium

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<v Speaker 1>using a General Health Questionnaire. This is a twelve question

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<v Speaker 1>mental health screening tool that assesses a person's well being

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<v Speaker 1>and potentially psychological distress in light of mental health disorders. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>PhD programs in Europe they're similar to those in the

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<v Speaker 1>US in many ways, but there are some differences, including

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<v Speaker 1>students having generally lower fees, shorter program terms, and a

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<v Speaker 1>formal employment contract with their universities. In Europe, the g

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<v Speaker 1>h Q questions focused on symptoms of depression and social dysfunction,

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<v Speaker 1>from constant strain and unhappiness to lack of concentration and

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<v Speaker 1>losing self confidence. Using the version of the g h

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<v Speaker 1>Q that requires the presence of four symptoms to consider

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<v Speaker 1>a person ill, the researchers found that thirty two percent

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<v Speaker 1>of the PhD students assessed were at risk of having

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<v Speaker 1>or developing a common psychiatric disorder, namely depression. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>the more common feelings students reported were sleeping problems due

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<v Speaker 1>to worries and the inability to get over difficulties and

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy everyday activities. Thirty two percent is a notable amount

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<v Speaker 1>considering data from the World Health Organization indicates that depression

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<v Speaker 1>is the leading cause of ill health and disability in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. And when the researchers compared the risk of

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<v Speaker 1>psychiatric disorders and PhD students to that of the highly

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<v Speaker 1>educated general population, highly educated employees, and high education students,

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<v Speaker 1>they discovered that it was significantly higher for PhD students

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<v Speaker 1>two point four three, two point eight four, and one

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<v Speaker 1>point eight five times, respectively. It's easy to think that

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<v Speaker 1>the heavy academic workload causes all the pressure, but the

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<v Speaker 1>researchers found that work environment and organizational policies also contribute

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<v Speaker 1>to psychiatric issues work family balanced difficulties, high job demands,

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<v Speaker 1>low job control, laser fair or passive leadership style and supervisors,

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<v Speaker 1>and even a team culture of closed decision making, where

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<v Speaker 1>all factors linked to potential mental health problems. On the

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<v Speaker 1>other hand, mental health was better in PhD students who

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<v Speaker 1>had advisers with an inspirational leadership style, desired an academic career,

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<v Speaker 1>and valued their degree outside of academia. The studies authors

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<v Speaker 1>aren't saying that working in academia or pursuing a doctoral

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<v Speaker 1>degree is definitively bad for your health, but their findings

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<v Speaker 1>do indicate that the stressors of being a PhD student

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<v Speaker 1>are more than a pain in the neck. If PhD

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<v Speaker 1>students work conditions in career outlook are inadequate, their mental

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<v Speaker 1>health may not make the grade. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Shelley Danzy, produced by Tristan McNeil, and For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and other topics, please visit us at how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com.