Hello,

with all respect to your situation, I think that the first thing you should do is go to a specialist - and in this case, this is not your supervisor. I was close to your own age when I finished my phd from a prestigious university, and I still remember how stressed I was during the final stages, which might seem to be interminable; you'll find out this, if you decide to go on with your phd. Please keep in mind that a PhD dissertation represents a very complex process of thinking, reading, writing, and revising, and talking - all these in one package. You have to be possessed of determination and insistence in order to complete this task; doubts, bad thoughts and letting your mind go away from what is at stake is not the right way. I don't know much about the disorder you describe, but perhaps you should no longer insist in your phd study, if you can't control your thoughts, because the phd demands total devotion and long hours of working unobstructed. If quitting, you shouldn't blame yourself; most phds are unemployed nowadays. Good luck.

 Keep the hope for your country though, like Phoenix it will come back to life, but it will be a different Greece though.
[/quote]

Yes, some optimism always helps people to cope with a situation as difficult and merciless as present-day Greece. Frankly, I believe that Greece is by all accounts clinically dead - writing from the perspective of a young scholar who has returned to Greece along with a PhD from a prestigious UK institution. All these negotiations going on at a European level are nothing but a course in Anatomy, where students and researchers do their practice on how a surgeon should respond to situations of emergency, as those expected for bigger European economies experiencing similar difficulties. Perhaps this might sound a bit cruel, yet I wonder whether one could make a priority list of suffering and injustice. People have invested in higher education, and many of us are extremely well qualified; such people cannot be thrown out of the boat.

Hello,

PhD unemployment has become a sort of universal condition. Finding a lectureship post, even for young PhDs in developing countries or wherever certain disciplines in social sciences and humanities are under-represented, is highly unlikely at an early stage of academic career. I hold a doctorate from Cambridge, nevertheless I wasn't able to find anything else but a temporary teaching post, which has expired long ago. The situation in subjects as medicine and science is somewhat different, yet there have always been funds available for these disciplines. I haven't heard of any people who managed to use their doctorates in the social sciences for jobs in the private sector - other than tuition (if this can be called a proper job). In fact, PhDs have to cope with a curious problem - being rejected as overqualified! I know of several cases where candidates had to erase their PhD from their cvs for this reason. I find this situation intolerable and outrageous, and perhaps it is the Universities' responsibility to do something about that. If I were the vice-chancellor or Head of School, I would be terribly concerned to see my students unemployed - and perhaps destitute. Many of us have paid university fees with our own or our parents' bank savings, and would definitely expect to hear a message of hope instead of public confessions of university failure.

I THINK YOUR IMMEDIATE CONCERN ABOUT FINDING A JOB IS SOMEWHAT PREMATURE - AND IT DOES NOT HELP YOU TO EASE THE ANXIETY ONE NATURALLY HAS BEFORE SUBMITTING THE THESIS. THOUGH MINE IS IN A DIFFERENT SUBJECT, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT GETTING THE PhD IS REALLY WHAT MATTERS NOW. SO, I WOULD SUGGEST YOU CLEAN YOUR MIND FROM ALL NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES (DIFFICULTIES WITH SUPERVISOR, ETC.) AND FOCUS ON WHAT IS AHEAD OF YOU. STILL, IF THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO HEAL THE PAIN, YES, THE ASSUMPTION HOLDS VALID THAT FINDING A JOB - EVEN ONE BASED ON CONTRACT - WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT. I FINISHED MY PhD FROM A PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY OF ENGLAND 4 YEARS AGO, AND I MANAGED TO WORK ONLY 20 MONTHS SO FAR. PRESENTLY, I DON'T HAVE A JOB, AND I'M WORKING ON APPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH GRANTS. THIS IS HOW IT WILL BE, UNLESS YOU'RE EXTREMELY LUCKY. IN A SENSE, IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT YOUR PROFESSIONAL CHANCES ARE SEVERELY LIMITED; NOW YOU CAN FOCUS ON FINISHING YOUR THESIS, FREE OF ANY FUTURE ANXIETIES AND EXPECTATIONS.

Hello, nice to read the experiences of a soulmate - I also have a doctorate from Cambridge University. I will be straightforward: judging from your reflections on the whole process so far, I think you'd better quit. Things will get more complicated soon, the research process will become very complex, and you will need to be steadfast to move ahead. Remember what the responsible supervisors tell to their first-year students: the moment will come when you will run out of the initial enthusiasm and motivation, and there will nothing else but a 'dark' feeling. At this moment, you will need to be very very very strong to stand on you feet and go on. Of course, supervisors are quite co-operative, but this does not mean they will 'show mercy' once you're psychologically weak. You will have to defend your arguments in regular seminars, and it is hard to do so if you have the slightest doubt about yourself. But there is something even worse: you claim you want to use your biology phd for doing science communication. Well, getting the phd is not actually your greatest accomplishment. Throughout your phd research you must show that you are determined enough to survive and respond to any challenges. Experienced supervisors are well aware of their students' situation, so what's the point in supporting a bewildered student, even if they are willing to give him/her the phd; all I'm saying is that getting the phd under the most unfavourable conditions for you as a person, does not lead you anywhere. If this happens, what you're doing is a waste of time, and it may even obstruct your future plans. Though my phd is in a different subject (it's a few years since I completed it, and finding a job, even a temporary one, was extremely difficult), I don't see how your phd in biology will help you in advancing youself in science communication - but you know this better, I guess. Sincerely.