Thanks for the replies.

I did take some work to an essay writing person and they said there wasn't anything wrong with it as far as they could see, apart from a couple of typos I'd missed. I don't know if that's because they are used to dealing with undergrads and aren't as familiar with PhD writing requirements. As it is I'm none the wiser as to what writing academically is really about because there is such a wide diversity of writing and writing styles among the academics that I read.

I think the biggest problem at the moment is that I hate the PhD, it's making me miserable and that's what's being reflected in my writing, because I'm not enjoying the process I feel like I'm going through the motions, and it's difficult to keep writing when you are only getting a few hours sleep a night and have a constant tension headache. Plus because I've constantly being told my work is not good enough, I lost all confidence in what I write and that's also showing because my writing is becoming more and more tentative, and I can't seem to break that cycle.

I dont know if it't too late for an interruption at this stage, but I think that's what I really need,either that or pack it in. I need to get away from it for more than a week or two, several months would be good and see if the interest and confidence returns.

Hi tt_dan,

I'm not exactly sure myself when they say I don't write in an academic way. I've been told to look at how academics write and to compare my writings to their's, they write in a more sophisticated manner that I can't emulate, so I try to write simply as if I'm teaching a class. Maybe to write a PhD you have to write pretentiously! Not up to standard centres around engaging with methodology, I need to use literary theory works like Genette and Eco and apply those arguments to the text I'm working on. The problem is I find literary theory works hard to understand and what I do understand I think is a load of bollocks, especially applying modern theory to ancient texts, but I'm not supposed to think that because my supervisors are big on literary theory. Now I have a complete mental block when it comes to writing the work, and have lost all interest in it because it's caused me nothing but stress.

Thanks for replying. It's good to know I'm not alone out there. I've my depression under control, which is why I'm pretty calm about the situation and not a complete wreck, which I was before I went to the doctor about it.
With the PhD I don't even know if it can go anywhere, I feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall, and my supervisors don't feel I'm capable of doing it, they say I have lots of knowledge when I talk about and give presentations, but I just can't seem to make it work on paper. So I feel like I'm wasting their time and mine, plus I feel really stupid because I don't seem to have the ability to do it,even though I know people who have got PhDs who had average grades for their BAs & MAs when I didn't. I don't know whether to try and get an MPhil from it, but I think that would still take a lot of work. I feel like I need an interruption, I would like to get away from it for while, but I don't know if that would be acceptable at this late stage of the PhD.

I'm currently in the 3rd year of a fully funded for 6 more months UK PhD in Humanities and I've come to the end of the road with it.

I began the PhD because I loved my subject and had done well in my BA & MA, and thought a PhD would good opportunity as a way of getting into academia.
But my PhD has never got of the ground and I'm thinking of calling it a day. I've got excellent supervisors so I can't blame them, but I've been told I don't write in an academic way and I'm not engaging with theory and methodology, which is a major problem for a literary thesis. As it stands the work that I've done isn't up to standard for a PhD and probably not for an MPhil.

I'm not that upset but I feel I'm letting myself and my supervisors down, and people are going to think I'm a failure. But the PhD has made me ill, I've been diagnosed with depression and suffer from phases of insomnia. To top it all the subject that I loved 10 years ago as an undergrad feels little more than a hobby now. I still have an interest in it but not the passion or dedication which I've noticed that many lecturers and other PhDs have, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that's it's pointless, it would never have an impact outside my field and it's unlikely to make a waves in my subject area either. I know I don't want it to be my life or have a job in academia now, and while this may be because people change over 10 years, I also think the PhD has ruined my enjoyment of my subject.

Have other people managed to turn their PhDs around at this late stage? Or if I quit is that bad? How have things worked out for those who did walk away from their PhD?

Thank you for the supportive comments. I'm going to try to calm down and relax over Christmas, and then maybe I can will be able to think straight. Hopefully then I will be more productive so when I see my supervisor after the holidays I can actually have some ideas.

My supervisor has been very supportive, and they have told me not to go back to them until I have some great ideas. This is why I'm so stressed out about it all, and I feel like I'm letting them down, because I can't think of anything. My original topic, which I got accepted to do a PhD, had book published on it the month I started the PhD. Since then I've been trying different topics on the suggestion of my supervisor, and I either run into to problems or get steered away by my supervisor because they can foresee problems. I don't want to give up, but I think it's reached the stage where I will have to.

Dear All,
I'm a 2nd yr Humanities PhD student in the UK, and I'm giving up all hope of actually doing this. My topic has changes so many times and now I'm at a complete loss. I don't know what I'm doing and I don't have a topic. I'm more than a year in and have nothing to show for, apart from scrappy bits of writing on different things. I'm so stressed out I can't even think straight let alone come with great ideas for something to research. So now I'm thinking about packing it all in, because I can't see a way out of this. I was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation? If so did you stick with it? Or did you realise that you weren't cut out for it?