I really need advice - to cut a long story short I cannot stand to work with my PhD supervisor any more - I know lots of people have moments during which they could strangle their supervisor but I have really come to the end of the line. Basically I have spent 8 months working on an article which she has now taken off me, re-written and told me oh now she knows why it would never have worked - surely she should have told me that month 1-2 - not let me waste lots of time after my first year during which she made me write and re-write useless documents, continually change the goal posts and tell me all the time that I wasn't listening - when in reality I was but she was always changing goal posts. This is in addition to having to put up with things like receiving texts telling me that what I have produced for her - for her presentation at a conference I was not even attending - at 11pm on saturday evening is not good enough, followed by phone calls with her screaming at me. Anyway I could moan about this woman forever but that's not the point.

Basically I had a chat with another academic in my department this week and he told me I could possibly change departments (the department I am in now is not where I did my undergrad/masters). This would mean that I would have to totally start over again - he suggested that I could go part time for a while but work full time (a financial burden I could just about cope with for about 4 months) to make up time - but am I mad to think I stand a chance of completing a PhD from scratch in about 20 months? I could just carry on but I am already on meds for depression and anxiety and I just feel that this person is totally unreasonable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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Hey! I really feel for you- I have a supervisor who can also be extremely difficult and downright out of order at times, and I also suffer from anxiety and depression (bipolar disorder). It is not a good combination. In my case, fortunately my PhD has progressed reasonably well and I will be able to see it through to the end, but I am praying that funding turns up in another team for a post-doc because I recognise that this woman is so bad for my mental health, and so does everyone else in the vicinity. In your case it sounds like your sup is more intolerable than mine, and it's going to be v tough for you to be around her for another couple of years. Exactly what work have you done so far and how much do you have left to do? To be honest, I think if you start over you will have to be realistic and realise that it will be very tough to finish in 20 months starting from scratch. So if you do decide to make the move, then make it with your eyes open and expect that you will probably need at the very least 2.5 years. It dpeends a bit on what field you are in as well, obviously. I think you are right to consider your options, and if you really cannot take any more of your sup then it might be worth jumping ship and considering other possible sources of funding to give you enough time to finish, but I would do that bit before you jump! Best, KB

Hi KB, thank you so much for your response - I am sorry to hear about your similar situation and I do hope you are ok and work is going as well as it can atm.

You ask how much work I have done - I feel like I have done nothing and don't understand what I am doing or where I am going with the research. I have a lit review and first year continuation report, only 20% of which I would use in actual thesis and have been working on an article for 8 months now which has totally been taken out of my hands.

I only want to echo KB.
There are bad and stressful moments during the PhD, but on the whole it should be a pleasant experience. It is not worth it if it causes you to lose your mental health.

I also believe that although a supervisor might be an excellent academic there might be a clash of personalities, making it impossible to work smoothly as a team. Can't you use more your second supervisor? Or maybe try to be more independent from her, agreeing on a general direction of the project, asking from feedback on what you 've written from time to time? I would be honest to her about my feelings and my expectations.

I could not even imagine my supervisor calling and screaming at me for any reason, we generally try to get our point across without hurting each other.

Best of luck with whatever you decide.