Hi

Same for me; have been reading a lot yet do not have a lot on paper. I think the trick is to keep on going. Currrently I keep a log of what I do and what I have done, which I think is helpful.

So do not worry and do not quit!

Dear Asia,

what you describe regarding your spine and getting pains when there are sudden changes in temperatures or humidity is not unusual. Obviously of all places UK and Ireland are known for these quick changes. Maybe a countries like Italy, southern Franc, Spain or US would be better for you, however if you have to go to the UK then southern coastal area may suit you: the climate in general is somewhat milder (some even claim it is subtropical in Torquay, which I cannot confirm)

Hi BigDave,

thanks for your reply, I will try what you have written down.

I have an athens account, yet when I do a search (usually embase and medline) I mainly get english / american papers and as such I miss a lot of what is required for my project.

Interestingly I have been quite frequently to the university in Birmingham for courses (esp institute for primary care and the conference park), always like it there. Seems a nice place to study.

Hi,

just a quick question:
Does anyone know which search engine to use for german medical papers? Is there something like the equivalent of Medline in the german language? Or a national library which one can enter using internet?

I notice that over the last few days several of he postings have been related to quitting the PhD and there has been debate whether this is courageous or the contrary.
I feel neutral yet in my opinion one, if not the most important challenge, is to finish the project. The lack of progress and disappoint may well have to happen to enjoy the experience of achievement at a latter stage.
Again I do appreciate the different views people have regarding quitting , that is finally a personal choice, yet I wonder whether others also see the "suffering" as a required part of the whole thing

Or really express what your problem is! (or maybe was). I know it sounds pedantic yet writing down what happened to you, what it felt to you and what you are going to do about it may help.

Hi roopa,

seems a question that only yourself can answer.

I had periods of 4 months and 6 months which I spent in Latin America, the first period was "just" travelling, the second time I had a sort of unpaid job, which gave me lot of satisfaction. For me it seemed important to have some sort of structure and goal. Maybe it was also important to have a feeling of belonging and to keep myself occupied.

Although not "scientific" would may be VSO work or a Raleigh project be something for you?

Hi Yick

do you think you might suffer from a depression?

Bazzab,

I can confirm that my literature review if ongoing for about 6 months without (as it feels) mayor progress.

I know that that may not be of much help, but at least it (and the other replies) indicate that you are not alone.

Hi

Yick please do not run into conclusions to quickly. There are a lot of people with a lot of personalities. Meyers and Briggs have made a scale looking at traits of personality. For example they differentiate between introverted and extroverted, thinking versus feeling and a few more. The issue is that these traits are not good or bad but indicate your preferences. Now a lot of good researchers wil be introverted people and may find it difficult to open up a conversation. Vice versa extroverted people are often very good in small talk yet may find it difficult to concentrate on data, reading etc.
Even stronger it would not surprise if a lot of the PhD students are actually quite introverted.

Being austistic would be really at the extreme end of the scale, although also here there is a wide variety. If your are really uncertain or feel very strongly regarding this I agree that it would be good to speak to your GP who could then help you regarding a psychological assessment

Hi Gary,

I am not an expert and are in a similar situation as you.

Excuse me asking but you write that you want to investigate a link between anarchism and atheism, which seems to me very challenging and not easy to research.
How do you think you can tackle this?

I am just curious by your topic, seems very complex.

Are there any other referencing tools or is is just those 2 which are used?

Dear Gene,

often it not so much the topic but the work environment which causes stress and disappointment. If this would be the case then it might be useful to try and change something regarding this.
Vice versa if you cannot change things at work you may be able to change something in your leizure time (for example sports etc) to counterbalance your work / work environment.
I am aware these are cliches but they may help.
I try to see work as only a small part (yet important part)of my life which can be closed at a specific time, and then try to have a good time (sports, cinema etc.) This may avoid burn out.

Dear Sixkitten, Nimrod81,roopa,

thanks for your replies, it helps already to hear that you have had or have similar sentiments and issues.
I agree with Nimrod81 that summarising is a good thing, yet from memory quite hard as I really read a lot and as a result I am quite puzzled. Do you keep your articles catagorised in a particular taxonomy and then summarised?
The tip regarding the starting with a question and then to deepen this is useful, and I probably need someone to help me to structure the writing.
Sixkitten I am at the same stage and therefore appreciate what you are saying, feel exactly the same...

I am finding it difficult to get started writing: although I have read a lot of the literature regarding my topic I find it difficult to get started regarding the actual project. Maybe I fear having to change later on when I actually have data, vice versa without explicit starting of the process there will be no data

Anyone recognizing this issue?