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Taking on the challenge of a PhD is a daunting task that carries numerous risks. But it need not lead to PhD burnout. In this blog post, I’ll be exploring what PhD burnout is, why it happens, what is unique about it, why it matters, and how you can turn the risk of burnout into a benefit.

What is burnout and why does it happen?

In the mid-1980s, Peter L. Brill outlined an operational definition of ‘burnout’ in response to the rising costs of healthcare in the private sector. The core symptoms Brill identified include emotional exhaustion and a difficulty in adapting to changing circumstances, as well as a tendency towards cynicism, indifference, irritability, and, relatedly, a foreboding sense of failure or poor performance.

Brill introduced the problem of ‘self-reinforcing cycles’. This captures the impact of bad habits of mind. For example, those affected by burnout may be sensitive to an ostensive incongruence between workplace expectations and the realities of work. We are even more prone to burnout when there is a mismatch between what can be done and what is out of our control, leading to self-defeating patterns of thought and action – a kind of ‘doom loop’. If we expect our environment to change beyond what can reasonably be expected, then we’re bound to be disappointed; equally, if we place excessive demands on ourselves, then we inevitably feel that we have let ourselves down. Peak performance is thus to be found by matching the appropriate level of challenge to our individual skill and ability.

What’s unique about PhD burnout?

Unsurprisingly, PhD and work burnout have much in common. Both entail a complex dynamic between toxic working environments and lack of personal coping strategies and skills. One of the key factors in PhD burnout, however, is the risk of lone working. Owing to the intense specialisation entailed in doctoral study, there is a significant risk of social isolation. The ‘get on with it’ mentality embedded within academic culture is seen as a kind of rite of passage for budding researchers. I certainly remember that fear among my peers. If a doctoral candidate couldn’t cope with PhD study, then maybe they were simply not cut out for academia. This environment enables and exacerbates an insidious culture of burnout.

Among the most important predictors of PhD burnout are the social aspects of research, especially the degree to which you are able to access social networks and/or communities of practice, formal or informal, and the relationship between you and your PhD supervisor/supervisory team. After all, human beings are social creatures and learning is a social enterprise.

I now supervise my own PhD students and can see clearer than ever that an old-school, domineering and abusive kind of supervision is toxic, unethical and totally unacceptable. PhD candidates are continually growing and developing, often rapidly. We need to ensure that feedback is supportive and that it contributes to one’s growth as a thinker, by helping someone discover for themselves how best to think and manage complexities and problems in the literature. This enables mentorship to emerge in its most valuable form, a process through which students are supported to find and cultivate their academic voices.

The upshot of this is that balance is paramount. Understandably, we might respond to these challenges of PhD stress and begin to focus on PhD ‘well-being’. Partly at least, there is nothing wrong with that. But it can be stifling and misleading. If we want development, there must be equilibrium between stasis (well-being) and stress (growth). Doctoral research as a process can be profoundly uncomfortable with numerous stressful milestones. What matters is that those stress points are not too much to manage and do not lead to ‘overwhelm’; the overall trajectory is growth, not perfection. If managed well, the stressors will in fact contribute to your flourishing and your flow as an academic. The trick is to find this elusive sweet spot, and to manage this in a supportive research community.

The six Ps for graduate flourishing

With this in mind, below are my 6 Ps for dealing with the kinds of pressures we might expect as a graduate student, with the aim of not merely coping and outmanoeuvring burnout, but actually thriving through those challenges.

Purpose

Know why you are there. It’s easy to see your PhD as a ticket to an academic career and it often is. However, there is something deeper that happens when you undertake a PhD: you transform as a person. This requires curiosity, wonder, and grit.

Personal growth

It’s best if you embark on a PhD with some sense of reflective practice and self-knowledge in terms of your strengths and weaknesses. If you want something light-touch, there are many online tools available to help with this, such as MBTI or Belbin. Although they may be rightly disputed, they can nonetheless offer a useful starting point for reflections. Where you have weaknesses, don’t run from them – lean into them for growth. This will make you better placed to know your limits and where you can stretch further.

Productivity

Find your flow. The tensions between ability or skill and challenge need not lead to overwhelm. In fact, they can produce great moments of insight and writing. Cherish those moments and learn to nurture them. Learn to ride them like you would a wave out in the ocean.

Process

Trust the process. Graduate school can be a supportive environment when it works well. Usually, you will need to submit a registration proposal for your project, after which you will receive supervisory support, followed by a progress viva, and a final viva. This process is designed to minimise the possibility of failure. Just do what you can, when you can, and catch up when you can. Once you’re through the door, the odds are with you!

People

Remember, you are wonderfully human. You are a social creature, even if you like working alone. Engage with the social practice of research (seminars, conferences, working groups, collaborations) as much as you can. They will stretch you and provide you with a sense of community. Remember that there is no one more important on your PhD journey than your supervisor. If things don’t work out and there are no prospects of them improving, consider getting advice and changing your supervisor or even the whole supervisory team. It’s not only possible but at times preferable, even if you supervisor is a leading name in the field.

Pain

To paraphrase the Buddha: ‘Pain is certain, suffering is optional’. Remember that you are in charge of your circumstances (both internal and external). If they are not optimal, consider tweaks or whole-scale revisions. Negotiating your agency effectively in academia is a central aspect of what it means to flourish as a graduate student.

Trust the six Ps and they will not only help you to develop a strong buffer against the risks of PhD burnout but also support you to transform these risks into a life-long benefit that you will never regret.

Dr Eri Mountbatten-O’Malley

Eri’s recently published philosophical research expands our understanding of what it means for human beings to flourish in a range of contexts, fields, and disciplines, including in education, psychology, science, and politics. He is active on a number of national and international committees related to his subject area and is Senior Lecturer in Education at Bath Spa University, Bath, UK.