Hi all,

Apologies for the long post to follow...

I am supposed to submit in October, that is the 4 years of studies mark.
However, I am going through a mental breakdown for personal and phd reasons that are:

-I went through a nasty breakup (my boyfriend of 3 years told me his family HATES me for being an immigrant).
-I found myself homeless and living off friends houses. I changed 4 houses within 2 months. My PhD funding has ended since last October.
-I have no substantial supervisor support. 1 out of my 4 supervisors only responds/acknowledges my drafts.


I realise there is NO way I can submit my phd on time. I am mentally incapable to read a line of a magazine, let alone write the remaining of my phd thesis. Thus, I have requested to suspend my studies but they told me at this stage I cannot suspend or extend and I HAVE to submit.

I have 1 month to go and still have 50% of my thesis left to write but I swear I cannot do a thing and all I do is crying and trying to compose myself. The worst part is that the more I neglect studying the more I forget things and the more difficult it becomes to get back into it and understand my data...Such a vicious circle that I cant keep up with...

Please help me, has anyone ever been through something similar? How did you come out of this? Can someone please advise me what to do? Please!

Hi both,
I am doing a PhD in Biophysics and I am suppose to submit at the end of October-which sadly I dont think will happen as I am going through a mental breakdown at the moment.
Mull, I think what you are thinking, that you are a fraud makes absolute sense. When I was on full PhD studying mode I felt I knew almost everything about my research, now that I am not bothered to study a thing and all I do is face the screen of my laptop, I feel worthless and that I will never graduate and that I am a fraud!

I think that your supervisor is very kind to you and you should trust him because they have seen many phd theses a d they have a good judgement, so if he says you should submit then go for it! I am sure you have submitted by now but I wanted to wish you the best for your viva and not to be afraid of it. See it as a nice chat with people (examiners) who have similar interests with you!

All the best!