......I want to quit, I have had enough. I hate saying it here as the last thing other PhDers need is negative vibes but God I am fed up. I miss structure I miss being told what to do. I miss not having to take all the responsibility for what I do. I MISS NORMALITY. Most people think what I do is a laugh and how lucky I am to do 'nothing' all day. I wish I wish I had just taken a normal job. Sorry rant over don't feel you have to respond just good to launch it into the ether....

hi dazednconfused - what year are you in? i felt the same in my second year. i found that keeping going helped, even if my work wasn't up to standard. it eventually got there. needless to say, it took a lot out of me. a while back, i read something really rewarding. it said, there comes a point during the PhD after the euphoria, boredom and frustration phase when we should see it as just 'a job to be finished.' I have found treating my work in this way helps a lot. it's no longer my world but i still work on it, with weekly targets like everyone else who goes to work.
i'd say, take a week off and do something totally different. perhaps go somewhere. you'll be refreshed when you get back and you can just treat it as a job to be finished.

...Or you will hate it even more.

I have always wondered about "PhD masochism". I mean its one thing to continue through the hardship in a subject that you realise you love, but entirely another thing to perservere when you detest everything about the job. Remember, its NOT strange to require guidance, structure, and clear goals. It is normal. (In fact its the rest of us that could be considered strange).

I reckon its that old fear of "not finishing what I started = failure", or fear of what others will think of you, that keeps people imprisoned. But then again, it is a prison of our own making.

Cheers chaps, yes I am in my second year but now a week later all is right again and I am getting back into it!! Just goes to show never ever act on instinct, get a perspective and it all works out...just apart of the rollercoaster that is academic life. Thanks for listening and responding xxx

I think this thread is totally stupid. Must have been quite an issue if a week later all is ok.

Adem, don't judge. Sounds like you have been very lucky if you've never had a crisis of confidence.

I have to agree with Juno Adem, if you have not had the 'i cant do this any more i'm quitting' moment at least once during the PhD you are either still in your 1st year, doing a science/structured PhD (and even still!) or are not doing it properly lol!

Adem should be banned.

"Adem should be banned"? For telling the truth? Although judgmental, he has a point.

In a new thread dazednconfused has pointed out that her essay won an ESRC competition. A big boost for her self-confidence no doubt! So this is the reason of her sudden change of mood. I think that everyone experience bad moments during their PhD. When we get recognition for what we do we realise that what we are doing is considered valuable and worthy of attention. On the contrary, it's easy to have negative feelings when we don't have feed-back or when you spend long periods 'just' reading and writing.

wouldn't be surprised if Adem and Jouri are the same person.

i totally agree with Corinne. give your positive feedback to those in bad mood and your would do them a great deal of help. why not?

Perspective was what I was getting at. The original post was lacking it. No, I'm not writing under two names. I'm afraid that I don't need to validate my views by falsifying a second comment of the same stance.

Congrats!

And totally agree with the majority here. My mood changes 180 degrees from one day to the other.

Does Adem come from the Adams family? your comments seems so harsh and lacking human understanding. I have written so many similar posts like dazedandconfused over the 3 years and doing a PhD for majority is a motivational struggle. When things get tough the comments in the forum has lifted my spirits so many times and I think that is why some get the wrong idea its all blues and moods. But let me emphasise it's only sometimes and somedays that we have that its enough feeling. So, people who think a bad mood cannot be something that last only for a week, I have had bad mornings which I think what else could i do if I quit and the reason is that we so much want to do this that it becomes the enemy of our struggle to go forward.