Hey, (rant ahead)

It's mid November already. My examiners have had my thesis for about a month now and I still don't have a viva date. I have a supervision meeting in December (with my secondary supervisor) because I'm really worried about my viva. My main supervisor has not replied to my email (and I'm trying not to read into it)

The thought of working through my viva is making me feel physically sick and crippled with anxiety and fear. Also feeling a little depressed about the prospect of failing at the last hurdle as I seriously think its going to be a fail (MPhil)!

I really feel like walking from it and cancelling the upcoming viva.

I'm probably just having a bad today today. Best of luck to Jojo and other PhD candidates awaiting their viva in the next few months.

I probably should just bite the bullet and look at my 110,000 word thesis but I just can't bring myself to it! :-(

Worrying about looking at the thesis is probably worse than you will feel when you actually start doing it. So start that tomorrow. Start small. Read your acknowledgements and intro chapter. That's it :) And then see how you feel.

Hi Pineapple....

i totally empathise with how you feel... i've been blue all day after reading a few pages of my thesis and wondering if am the one who wrote it! but i have decided to stay positive that if i carry on reading it that it will soon make sense - nevermind talking about it.

your anxiety is heightened by the lack of a date. i feel the same. my advice would be, just take one day at a time. don't think so hard about the viva if it is not today, because you still have tomorrow to perfect what you did not manage today.

i think believing that you will pass it is the best place to start and then getting on with the preparation. you've made it this far.. leave the outcome to the examiner and just do your best on the day. and whatever happens you did your best.

all the best and i BELIEVE you will pass! go pineapple. we can read chapter 1 together tomorrow and compare notes on the experience. (up)

i forgot to say thanks for the good wishes. :-)

Stop to think negative immediately. Focus on positive points.
You finished your thesis and submitted. Congratulations. 
A fail is a remote possibility. More probably you will get a minor or major corrections.
I didn't submit yet so I can't give you any advice on viva preparation.
Start to prepare for the viva and while doing this concentrate on the positive points so you can easily defend it. How can you defend something if you see all the negative points. No one's thesis is perfect.
When you open your thesis and start reading, this will ease your anxiety.
Good luck.

======= Date Modified 17 Nov 2010 11:18:57 =======
Hey

Thanks for the messages. I guess I was just having a weak/off day yesterday. I have a more concentrate idea on dates now- ie likely to be in Feburary 2011 now so I have a little more time to prepare for it.

I'm feeling a little better today.

Sadly my supervisors have nothing positive to say which is feeding my negativity. I'm just going to concentrate on previous feedback from them ie very extensive for a PhD, concentrate on how original, new and unexplored my work is within my field and concentrate on what I've contributed to the my area for future research along with findings from a large scale study (ie UK directories and brand new tools)

I'm just going to see what happens and hope for the best. Also going to work on thesis typo list and draw out acknowledged limitations, gaps and weaknesses to contribute to my defense.

I'm looking forward to beyond my PhD now, that is doctorate number 2 for 2011 entry! (ie practitioner doctorate leading to chartership in psychology!)

am glad you're feeling better pineapple. i like your new focus on being positive. forget your supervisors for now. also try and take time off to recover from this anxiety and come back with a new perspective. i took 6 weeks off after my phd. am glad i did because i came back to it more positive.. though that means i have to relearn some stuff. but i don't expect it should be that hard.