Did you seek professional help for your depression, i.e. speak to your family doctor, or a counsellor, or someone? That might have helped things ease for you, and be more manageable. If it was me I wouldn't want to walk away without trying that. 2.5 years sounds like a long way through. How many years are you aiming for? Are you full-time or part-time?

Also a PhD could help you secure an even better job in industry. But you already have offers. It's really your choice.

I walked away from a full-time science PhD 14 years ago after falling seriously ill long-term, but not properly diagnosed at that point. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I went through a difficult grieving process for my lost PhD. But it was also the best decision I made.

But I still had unfinished PhD business. I recently completed a part-time humanities PhD.

Good luck!

I got on with my minor corrections immediately, Montezuma. I didn't have the PhD until they were done, and signed off, and I wanted that very badly, so I was very motivated. Maybe that will help you get them done. Not doing corrections = no PhD! :p

They are a bit boring to do (mine were just fixing typos + improving some captions), but they need doing, and once you get into them they don't seem so bad to be doing, and are over soon.

Sorry to hear that news. Re bursaries etc. have you considered small UK charity funds? There are lots of them out there, often supporting people who meet very specific (and often unusual - like grocers' children in Manchester!) criteria. Obviously you won't be eligible for them all, but it's possible you might be eligible for one or more, and they may be able to help with your fees.

Have a look at http://www.turn2us.org.uk/grants_search.aspx

Very good post, and glad things are looking up for you. I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder mid-way through my PhD. I blame it on the neurological disease + some of the cytotoxic drugs I have to take for that, which can cause anxiety as a side-effect. My GP and I agreed to try anti-anxiety medication in my case (a mild SSRI). I had to try a couple before I didn't have troublesome side-effects, but it helped hugely, and put me in a very good position when I returned to my part-time PhD after a medical break in 2007.

So, yes, definitely seek help. GPs and counsellors and psychologists can help a lot with this sort of thing, whether it be through drug therapy as in my case, or a more talking kind of therapy as in yours. And the sooner they are involved the better.

90 pounds at mine.

If she doesn't start until March then presumably she isn't getting paid to be there. In which case she shouldn't be. Those hours are ridiculous by any standards, work or PhD student alike. And it doesn't sound like she falls in either camp.

It doesn't take long to get into PhD life (trust me, I've done this twice!). She could easily have done that in March. There is absolutely no need to be going in beforehand.

I don't think it's necessary to do a massive amount of preparation, or spend a long time on it. So if you wanted to do some stuff you'd still have time.

Rereading the thesis is a good idea, but only if you still have time!

Otherwise my main viva tips - which are really easy and quick to tackle - are thinking about and memorising answers to 5 key questions: originality of my thesis, contribution to knowledge, methodology, weaknesses/gaps/mistakes, and what would I do differently if starting again.

My viva preparation was very minimal. And I passed.

Good luck!

Woot! Well done Dr Sue :-) I wondered how you were getting on. That's brilliant news.

Good luck for the future, including your new job and new city.

It's really common to go through what are called mid PhD doldrums or blues. Either in 2nd year if you're full-time, or the part-time equivalent as I went through. They are very tough!

The way I dragged myself back was to make a long list of lots of short achievable tasks I could be getting on with. Then I would pick the most appealing task (or least unappealing usually!), and start with that, do it, then cross it off the list, and move on. Crossing things off the list really gave me a boost, and I managed to get back into the swing of things that way.

Also I would recommend not comparing yourself to others too much, that doesn't always help. And supervisor feedback can at times be really tough. It will be again before the end. But you can get there!

Also even if you are studying for just a couple of hours a day that's a lot during the week. I was managing on at most 5 hours a week by the end, in 1 hour chunks spread throughout the week. But I'd use my to-do list method to get on with something, however little time I had, and so still make progress that way.

Good luck!

Could you work at home? It sounds as though travelling to a library is adding to your time/energy commitments, and isn't helping you produce work.

I did all my part-time (6-year) PhD at home. I didn't have pregnancy to deal with, but was pretty brain dead throughout due to progressive neurological disease. So I would work in small chunks, an hour at a time, and use to-do lists full of achievable mini goals to get things done.

You're so close. Good luck!

It might be possible, but depends which of the humanities you're doing. For history, for example, as my PhD was in, it's necessary to do a very substantial amount of research in primary sources before writing up. A few people manage to complete within 3 years, but they're in the minority. Here in the UK we don't have course work either, and are basically thrown straight into doing research and then thesis writing. But it does take a certain amount of time, and unless you do the required amount of good research first your thesis may be a load of rubbish ;-)

Well I've finished my PhD, but I drew up a list of these before finishing, and an updated list afterwards. Things on my lists (in addition to doing more research and producing more thesis-derived journal papers!) included:

- do certain OU courses, purely for fun
- learn LaTeX
- teach myself the Inform 7 text adventure programming language

And, above all, rest :-x

I've already started the Inform 7 learning, and am about to start a new OU course. Well actually I've already started it. I start early, ahead of the normal schedule, to try to save up a safety buffer for bad times when I can't study for weeks on end. It's in a subject related to the very first course I took with the OU in 1998, and has virtually nothing to do with my PhD ;-)

I agree with Wally and Sneaks. A PhD student in my department was failed outright a few years ago, when she was expected to pass extremely well. It seemed to come down to supervisor politics, but was a bombshell for the department, students and supervisors, who realised just how much of a lottery the process can be, however good a PhD and student are.

Your uni may provide EndNote on-site to postgrads, but if you want to use a copy at home you will need to buy it. I bought it early in my part-time (6-year) PhD, and it was well worth it. But there are other similar packages, including some that are free.