Hi everyone, this is my first forum post and I've found this site really insightful and helpful. Thank you.

I am a doctoral candidate at a major U.S. university, in my fifth year of the PhD program. I have passed all coursework and both qualifying and preliminary exams without problems and I have a very good committee with top professionals in my field (which is related to information science). My dissertation proposal was accepted without revisions (and with very positive comments) last year. I generally believe in my topic, I think it has potential to make major contribution and it is exciting. In principle.

However, there are problems. Due to my unfavorable loan terms, I have to pay back my loan now and work to meet monthly payments - I have a contract with my employer that I work four days a week. I hate my industry job. My research is not progressing at all, I should be collecting data via experiments (user testing) which involves a lot of planning. I've been diagnosed with depression. I feel desperate and I have lost focus and I feel my topic is way too trivial, I have hard time believing my committee when they say this is actually super cool and important.

I have made two publications along the years (at minor but legit conferences), one of them is kind of related to my research. I have been a research assistant for four years, however mostly at a private research facility affiliated with the university, so I was not allowed to publish anything, and it didn't contribute to my (thesis) research. I needed to get the tuition waiver so I didn't really have a choice! Now I fear that this arrangement and current situation either prevents me from completing my PhD or at least prevents a real academic career (postdoc, tenure etc.).

It has been a very long road to get this far. I don't want to quit. Please offer some advice. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Sounds difficult. When do you see yourself finishing? Can you do the PhD part time? Do you have enough data to write up now?

sounds really tough. I'm not experienced enough to advise. can you talk to your supervisor /grad student support advisor about the possibility of switching to part time to allow you finish and still work to pay off your loans.

A better solution would be if you could negotiate with the bank for an extension on your loan repayments.

Seems like you have come so far, and are a strong candidate, I hope you find a solution.