Hello everyone!

Firstly, please accept my apologies for posting a thread about wanting to quit. I noticed there have been quite a few in the last month or so, and I feel just awful for posting yet another one. I don't know why, but I do!

I'm posting this in the hopes that those of you who have quit/are in the process of quitting will PM me about your experiences. I'm so desperate to talk to other people about this. I feel so alone right now in my decision, and really need some support from those of you who have gone through this.

I've been doing my PhD for nearly two years now, and I simply can't go on any longer. I feel as though I've been fooling myself and everyone else who's been supporting me. I feel like a total failure for not being able to carry on, and for having held on for this long and not coming forward sooner about these feelings. I've been really unhappy for ages, but pushed on in the hopes that what I was experiencing would pass, but it hasn't. I can't believe how much time I have let pass. My motivation is non-existent, and hard as I try, I just cannot get any work done, and haven't been able to for ages. I know I've come to the end of the line with this, and it's time to cash my chips in and move on.

I would really like to hear from others about their experiences, so if you're going through this or have been through this, can you PM me? I would really appreciate it.

Congratulations to those of you who are doing well with the PhD! I wish I had your self-motivation and determination! I really do.

Thanks alot everyone!

Sorry to hear about your situation.

My experiences can be found on this thread: http://www.postgraduateforum.com/threadViewer.aspx?TID=11485
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Maybe we should have a whole board for this topic. I'm starting to wonder if it's this time of year - it's nearly exactly a year since I went!

Sorry to hear about yuor situation! You might want to check out my epic thread, entitled 'Seriously Thinking About Quitting' - it should be in the first few pages of this forum. I'll try and send a private message at some point. Just note that things are never as bad as they seem - there's no sense in beating yourself up over it. Trust me... Some people just aren't suited to a PhD, and I am one of them!

Please don't quit. I know, that I have NO right to say this as you must have tried hard enough not to for quite a while. I am also in the dame stage and almost the same situation as you are, yet I am trying. I just hope that if I come out of this spell, nothing will look like such a depressing, disheartening, disgraceful to me ever. My supervisor yesterday took the last hands off approach as he I think cannot see any light through the pipes any more. I almost stopped eating and sleeping. Last night I went to sleep at 1 a.m and woke up at 4 a.m.--since then I am trying to read and write, though haven't done much. I missed a deadline yet again of submitting a report, still I keep on trying. I wish I had this perseverance a little earlier. I logged on now to see if there is anyone saying anything that can keep me going. When I saw your post, I just felt so sad--with the fear that I might have to do the same thing :-( !!
Yet, I hope that you won't give up or give in. Please take no offense anyone--but even knowing that this is inevitable at some stage, it's hard to see anyone leaving.

Take care. I earnestly hope that a better tomorrow awaits you no matterwhat decision you take.

Just to add that I may be among the ranks of the PhD dropouts, but I wouldn't advocate it as a path for everyone. I really do think that the first thing to do is to talk to the people supporting your project, and see if any of the problems are fixable. In my case the number of people I could talk to was limited, and the problems could not, in my view, be fixed. But things might be different for you.

Dear Xeno,
Sorry to hear that things are not well. Tell us more about your project and we might be able to shed light on your plight.
Best wishes.