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Mental Health

Studies show that many doctoral researchers are affected by stress or different psychological challenges, such as depression or anxiety disorders. Should you be interested in assessing your own mental health, check out NHS's mood self-assessment.

Fortunately, there are points of contact you can turn to when you need help and there are also many resources out there which can help with this situation. Here we collect some of them to help you lead a happier and more balanced life as a scientist.

Remember: Doing a doctorate is intellectually & mentally challenging and we are all facing this - you are not alone with your problems.

If you want us to add resources to the ones we collected here, don't hesitate to contact us via mail (phd-bio(at)biologie.uni-freiburg.de).

General advice

  • Go out for a walk, try to catch some sunlight. Get some distance from your problems - both physically as well as mentally
  • Take regular breaks - both during your working day, but also remember to take (longer) vacations. Keep your weekends sacred. You need time off. And also try not to work too long during weekdays. Only a relaxed mind is a creative and productive mind
  • Be the friend you would need right now: Just imagine a friend of yours approached you with the problems you are facing right now. Be as empathetic to yourself as you would react to your friend
  • Try to do sports on a regular basis, eat healthy food and sleep enough
  • See the positive aspects of your current situation (you might want to check out "reframing", e.g. see this article at Psychology Today).
  • Remember why you are doing a PhD. Don't forget why you are (or were) passionate about your topic. At the same time, every doctoral researcher experiences periods without passion about his*her science, and that’s totally okay – at the end of the day, it’s just a job!
  • Invest in you and find hobbies outside your work (e.g. art, yoga, hiking, DJing etc., maybe join a course at Hochschulsport Freiburg (University sport)). Listen to your favourite music, read your favourite book (something which is not related to your work!)
  • Connect to people outside your work - both other doctoral researchers, but also from completely other fields, e.g. industry. Especially people from outside of the scientific system can help you to develop a new point of view about it and to understand its advantages & disadvantages.
  • Search advice from friends and fellow doctoral researchers (maybe senior doctoral researchers) you trust. Support fellow doctoral researchers when they are facing crises - helping others is great for finding sense in one's own doings (e.g. you might want to start PhD representatives' work ;) )
  • Remember that your PhD is only your PhD and your life is about you and not about your PhD
  • Always take one step at a time - your doctorate is a marathon and not a 50m sprint. If it seems that your project is overwhelmingly large, break it down into small pieces which are feasible to achieve and take one step at a time (e.g. by creating a to do list and write all the small steps down - having a plan can be calming - even if you do not adhere to the plan)
  • Be patient with yourself
  • Be good to yourself & practice self-care (see e.g. healthline: Why You Don’t Need a Lot of Time or Money to Make Self-Care a Priority and Parade: What is self-care?
  • You won't be able to do everything (especially not perfectly): Learn how to prioritize & skip perfectionism

When, where and how to get help?

Mental health is important - regardless if you are facing severe problems or just simply want to boost your resilience for future challenges. In the following you find points of contacts and links to helpful resources. If you want to assess your own mental health, check out NHS's mood self-assessment. Professional counselling (see below, e.g. for employees of Uni Freiburg or for employees of Uniclinics Freiburg) can also help you put your current situation into perspective.

Emergency Help

If you are facing an acute crisis, don't hesitate to get help. You are not alone. These are some points of contact you can turn to:

  • In case of an acute emergency - do not hesitate to call the emergency services (telephone 112) - also if it is not about you, but about a friend
  • Uniclinics for psychiatry and psychotherapy (8am - 4pm: +49 761 270 65500; outside these times: +49 761 270 65010), website in Russian or German
  • Telefonseelsorge Freiburg: You can call them and they listen to you and try to help you find solutions
  • Mainly for students: Nightline Freiburg - you can call them from 8 pm to 0 am and they listen to you and help you find solutions
  • In case of an anxiety attack you can call Mutruf and talk to people who experienced similar situations and can help you get through the attack
  • The Help Hub: UK based platform for confidential conversations (by phone or video) with trained therapists or counsellors
  • frans-hilft.de: in case you or a close friend feels suicidal or you lost someone to suicide and a similar point of contact in Freiburg (AKL Freiburg)

Courses & Resources

Courses are helpful to learn new competences and to build up resilience.

IGA is offering plenty of courses on project & time management, but also stress management & mental health. Also, there are online courses, e.g.

Mentoring

Even if not necessarily (and not only) a solution to mental health problems, we want to mention mentoring. Mentoring can help you find solutions to problems you are facing and a good mentor can help you clarify your goals for the future. Having a vision about your future and knowing what you really want helps you tackle many daily problems. Also, hearing an outside opinion about your current situation can put it into perspective and help a lot. Often, we need an outsider's perspective to be able to recognize how much we accomplished and where our future path might lead.

Becoming a mentor for others can also help you to realize how much you already learned during the last few years and how many challenges you already mastered successfully. Also, helping others can help find sense in your own doings.

Coaching

"Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a coach, supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance." (from wikipedia). Just like mentoring, coaching is not aimed at improving your mental health - however, it can help you tackle your current problems and clarify your future goals.

Besides coaching at IGA, some of the graduate schools at Uni Freiburg are offering coaching opportunities.

Counselling (german: Pschologische Beratung)

In Germany, there are different points of contact you can turn to when facing psychological problems. If you consider getting help, a good first point of contact is counselling. There, professionals can help you deal with your current situation and assess with you if you should start a therapy. It's for free, anonymous and won't show up in your medical record. It's a good first step to assess if you should maybe see a therapist.

Therapy (german: Psychotherapie)

Depending on the severity of your problems, therapy might be advisable. It's covered by public health insurance and can help you deal with crises (e.g. a doctorate) and mental illnesses. There is a certain social stigma associated with getting therapy - try to get over it and remember that it takes a lot of strength to accept help. Do not feel weak for searching professional advice - if your leg was broken or in case of other bodily issues, you would also not hesitate consulting a medical doctor.

This website gives a guide on psychotherapy in Germany - even when last updated in 2016, it is almost completely up-to-date.

Steps to begin a therapy (loosely based on Steps to begin a therapy, website in german)

  • Step 1: Find a therapist, e.g. here: Website to search for medical doctors and psychotherapists which can be paid by public health insurance
    • You might want to browse several websites and choose several therapists who seem to suit you, e.g. by browsing their website (trust your gut feeling). One really important factor for successful therapy is that you trust your therapist and believe your therapist is competent in helping you. Hence, it is key that you find a therapist who suits you.
  • Step 2: Contact a therapist, e.g. by telephone - often, therapists give certain hours during which they can be reached. Often, it is difficult to find a therapist with free slots - hang in there and just call another therapist. You can also ask the therapist without free slots if s*he knows someone with free slots. If you are not yet sure if you need and want therapy, you might also first want to turn to counselling (see above). When talking to a therapist on the phone, do not hesitate to ask questions, e.g. about the therapy forms the therapist is offering
  • Step 3: First consultation hour(s) are good for getting to know the therapist, assessing if you need therapy and if you have the feeling the therapist can help you. For a successful therapy, it is key that you trust the therapist and you have the feeling s*he can help you - if you do not have this feeling, ask him*her for help to find someone else and/or start calling other therapists
  • Step 4: Therapy itself - your therapist will help you with your therapy application at your health insurance. For short term therapy, this is more or less a formality

Further information related to mental health

How to change research culture

One important aspect of mental health & doctorates is the academic system in which we are operating. Changing research culture towards the better is crucial for the mental health of us all. Here you find some input concerning this topic.

Side note: It's also extremely interesting to read research about scientific culture. Check out, for example, one classic in the field: Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar: Laboratory Life. The Social Construction of Scientific Facts.

Additional Resources

Studies about mental health of doctoral researchers and more senior scientists

Mental health issues among academic staff becomes more and more of a topic. Good news is that studies found that, even if many doctoral researchers struggle with anxiety, many researchers do (partially even at the same time) love their job