Thanks you all :) I've been drinking a lot of wine since haha!

Just wanted to share some positive news that I passed my viva voce and will start doing the corrections soon. Still can't quite believe it. It has been 4 years of (at times) absolute hell! Not just with the PhD but my personal life as well. This forum has been a constant source of support throughout that time, even for just reading through old posts and getting some comfort that other people have successfully managed to get through similar difficult situations. So, a big thanks to all who have helped me on here over the years :)

Thanks all for your replies :)

I had a bad day yesterday and ended up doing nothing...now anxiety has kicked I'm panic working again lol! I've decided to ask friends and family to proof read one chapter each as I don't want to over burden anyone. I know once I submit I'll probably start beating myself up for not working/trying harder but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it haha

Oh God! I have to submit in two weeks time, no extensions or begging for anymore time - my supervisor has had enough of that lol. I still feel like I have endless corrections to do and need to get the thing proof read :( How many of you got family and friends to proof read and how many professional? I would like to get it professionally done but time and finances are really stretched now...

I still feel like my thesis is garbage, littered with errors and not up to standard, but I've heard that's a common feeling so trying to ignore it...

Thanks BlackTrinity and Marasp :)

I think I may be heading for a R&R and was feeling like it might be the end of the world - it nice to hear success stories :)

I'm aware there are numerous threads on a revise and resubmit viva outcome, but I was wondering from those who go this - what did you have to do/change/add? Was it adding completely new chapters, revising one or more chapters in their current form or less than that? (for example: adding in paragraphs or expanding on many statements throughout).

Thanks :)

Same here, AislingB :( Although so far this morning I've managed to work my way through 4 episodes of the X-files box set I bought as a treat yesterday and done nothing on the thesis......big mistake!

Oh yes! LOL. I remember a couple of years ago I submitted a paper to journal which was liked and recommended for publication by both of the peer reviewers, just for the editor to turn round and say he's not accepting it anyway because he feels it "reads like it's written by an A-level student and offers nothing of value to the journal" - almost fell of my chair after reading that! (I was very annoyed though at the 9 months from submission to receiving that email - complete waste of time and he shouldn't have sent it out for peer review in the first place if he didn't like it). Suffice to say I got it published in a much higher impact journal with only minor revisions at the next attempt. I guess some of the editors have an axe to grind, so even thought it's unprofessional and often disrespectful try not to take it personally ;)

Done :) Good survey!

Hi All!

Thanks for your replies :) Really is a comfort to now I'm not alone on struggling with this.

AislingB you're quite right, I'm very hard on myself - the problem is that only leads to more procrastination, not work! So I've tried to be kind to myself and have breaks (watch a movie or some tv) and I've been really productive as a result! I'm going to keep going whilst I still have the mental energy - fingers crossed I can get a full draft done by the end of the month.

HazyJane that's good advice! I stopped looking at others' theses for a while and started feeling better lol! But I took a look at one yesterday to see how they structured it and that was helpful too....I need to find a balance.

Thank you Kelpie! :) Writing up really is Hell! I honestly thought this would be the easy bit.....how wrong I was haha!

I really can't take the stress anymore. All day ive worked on that monstrosity of a thesis and I've gone backwards.....Yep I ended up with less words than I started with due to deleting a load of crap and repititions in the discussion. The final straw was when I started having a look at other theses online and seeing how different/rubbish mine looks. I just can't face it. I have 60,000+ words and probably need another 15,000 but it seems like the mountain is getting bigger, not smaller haha! Seriously considering asking to submit for MPhil so I can be done with this hell.

Sorry for the self pitying rant - but I'm currently hiding in bed hoping somehow it will all work out by next week when my next draft is due but it's no different from the last....lol

Thank you so much, eading! :) Really appreciate it - do let me know if I can return the favour some day :)

Does anyone have the pdfs of any of these please? I would be eternally grateful! :))))

Pusey H, Richards D. (2011). A systematic review of the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for carers of people with dementia. Aging & Mental Health.

Cooke DD, McNally L, Mulligan KT, Harrison MJ, Newman SP. (2001) Psychosocial interventions for caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review. Aging & Mental Health

Charlesworth GM. (2001). Reviewing psychosocial interventions for family carers of people with dementia. Aging & Mental Health, 5(2):104-6

Brodaty, H., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D. (1990). Psychosocial effects on carers of living with persons with dementia. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry

I agree with Wozers here, it's very doable.......but only if you stop beating yourself up!! I would focus on the literature review most and have an outline of the methods. At the upgrade they will want to see you're thinking ahead to potential problems and have a timescale - so developing a Gantt chart for the final 2-3 years is a really good idea as it will give them confidence you have a plan (worked for me!). Also, I had 2 months in my 3rd year (now in year 4 - write up year) when I did absolutely nothing, I just couldn't even face opening a PDF to read something - let alone write anything. But I'm still here plugging away :) You can do it, promise!

Universities are graded on their pass rates, it's not simply a case of you losing your money and potentially taking the place of someone else who has worked hard to get an undergraduate degree to get on the course. By your logic I could buy my way on to a PhD and then after a year of wasting everyone's time and effort they could just get rid of me.