Hi all. I could do with some advice. Until recently I was a PhD student. However, I’ve now had to leave my course. Everything was going fine until I had a falling out with a senior academic. I had taken time off for mental health reasons after being diagnosed with PTSD, and this academic questioned my reasons for taking time off. Around this time, a lot of personal, confidential information I had disclosed to the school about my health was leaked around the department. I started to receive harassing messages left on my office desk, and my supervisors, who had until then being extremely supportive, turned hostile, and started accusing me of faking my mental health issues (this is in spite of the fact that I had disclosed to them, and I was not majorly behind in my work). It got to the point where I became scared to go to the department. I launched a complaint against the senior academic, but I was told that the University could take months to pursue it. I complained to my head of school, who said he wasn’t able to act to prevent the hostility. The hostility continued, and my mental health suffered, so I felt I had no choice but to quit.

I want to continue my research at another University, and I’ve got the grades and publications to get onto another course, as well as knowing other supervisors in my field. However, I don’t know how to explain the fact that I got a year and a half into a course and then left – I never went to the police about the harassment (I’ve been harassed before and found the police useless) – and I can’t get any references from my school to explain what happened. I don’t want any future course to just think I gave up…does anyone have any advice or similar experience?