Is it not funny that after longing to submit I now feel depressed after doing that yesterday. I sort of feel my fate now lies in the hands of three individuals unknown to me and there is nothing I can do about it. Is this how others feel after submitting?

Yes, it can be depressing following submission. I felt elated to start with but came down from that quite quickly. I took a break away with family to take my mind off the thesis. I found i was in a limbo state, needing to prep for my viva but not having the motivation or enthusiasm to do so without a date to aim for. The examiners hold all the cards at this point and they will pretty much decide our outcome prior to viva. I am still waiting for a viva date two months after submitting. So I would recommend a break and then you can re-read your thesis with fresh eyes. Well done for submitting, it is a major milestone!

Yes, I felt extremely depressed following submission, especially as I was forced to submit without my supervisors signing off a final draft. I literally could not get up in the mornings following submission.

I still feel unhappy and depressed about the whole situation. I've more or less convinced that I'm going to receive a BRUTAL viva (sups hinted as such) and I'm going to have to fight for a resubmission. However, I'm trying to think more positively, ie focusing on the POSITIVES (ie originality, extensive thesis)  and thinking of ways to improve my thesis and acknowledging my thesis shortfalls. I submitted in October and I have 10 days left of viva prep before my big day. So you can imagine, I've experienced a particularly long, painful and depressing state of limbo.

Congratulations on submission :) All the best with your viva prep. I recommend taking some time away from your thesis (ie at least a few weeks)- it will help with your viva prep.

I felt quite numb after submission. The submission actually happened when I was in hospital seeing a consultant, and my Dad took the soft-bound theses in to my supervisor to be signed, and then on to Registry. So I felt very disconnected, and very numb about the whole process.

But I found the fact that my fate was pretty much out of my hands to be quite liberating. Soon after submission I adopted a 'que sera sera' attitude. Apart from preparing well for the viva there was little that I could do to change things now. And there was no point getting worked up about it. It wouldn't do me any good, and might lessen my chances of success in the viva. Adopting that attitude took the pressure off me immensely and made me much happier about things.

All your contributions help, especially as now feel others have gone through the same experience. Thanks.

On another note I am now feeling more positive as one of my articles has been accepted for publication.