Hi,

Just looking for long term advice really. Although mental health had been a real concern during my undergraduate (and came to a head during finals) I did not really address the matters and went straight into doing my Masters at Oxford. Due to the time frames involved I applied for a DPhil during near the beginning of the Masters (and later won funding to pursue this) however, rather predictably, depression kicked in during the second and third terms of the M.St and I considered suspending studies. At the time I felt that the pressure of further study was making the situation worse so I eventually declined the funding in favour of a last minute consultancy job. It is now a year later, and although my job is enjoyable enough, I'm starting to envisage a return to academia in the next few years as I learn better coping strategies through my non-academic work. Has anyone else done this - leaving a gap of around 3 years between Masters and Doctorate? Secondly, would the turning down of the funding last year adversely affect future applications since it was the best decision I could have made for my health at the time. (I am thinking of applying a few years in the future on the condition that I feel mentally resilient).

It's quite normal to take a break between MSc and PhD. I had a 5 year gap. It won't affect future funding because you didn't start and then quit - that's a bit trickier to overcome, but can be done.