Postgrad mental health & wellbeing

By Romana-Rea Begicevic CAPA President

Postgrad mental health & wellbeing

Mental health in academia is increasingly highlighted in international literature as an area of importance. Recent research reports that one in two PhD student’s experiences psychological distress. One in three are at risk of a common psychiatric disorder. In Australia the reality is not different.

However, there is a need for more Australian-based research, larger sample sizes and national and university data to be routinely collected/reported. Of the research we do have available, we can identify students in higher risk groups are international students, rural/regional and remote university students, law/medicine and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

A 2018 Universities Australia survey reported that many students are still ‘doing it tough’ to the extent of being unable to afford basic necessities and being forced to miss classes to work. While struggling to ‘make ends meet’ during their time at university, many students are also accruing significant future debt. In 2016-17 the estimated average student HELP debt was $19,100, taking approximately 8.8 years to repay. With the lowered income repayment threshold to just $45,000, HELP debt is no longer put off until the debtor is ‘earning a decent wage’ as was the case in the past. A growing body of literature is showing that student debt has negative effects on student and post-study wellbeing, including poorer mental health. Similarly, graduate students experience higher levels of stress due to financial responsibilities. Equally stressful is the fact that PhD students face uncertainty about the future, such as funding for research and what they are going to do after a PhD.

Rural and regional, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and international students are at greater risk of mental health problems at universities. For these people, the stressors of university life can be compounded by relocation from families, friendship and support networks, cultural connections and traditional lands. Any of these factors can lead to an early course exit. Negative and harmful experiences on campus can further impact mental health outcomes and the need for support services such as results from the AHRC Change The Course report on sexual assault and harassment at Australian universities. The LGBTQI community has their own unique risk factors and may experience discrimination in their research community as a result of their identity.

It is all too common to see PhD students work themselves to the point of physical and mental illness in order to complete their studies. It is less common to see PhD students who feel that they are under such pressure that the only option is suicide. But it does happen. There is a culture of acceptance around mental health issues in academia – and this needs to change.In Australia 35.4% of students had thoughts of self-harm or suicide with 50.9% of students having thoughts of suicide at least once in the previous year and 14.8% making at least one attempt. Plenty of students have sought out mental-health care in graduate school but not all of them did so successfully. Some reported that they tried to seek care, but their universities didn’t offer timely counselling to graduate students. Others reported month-long waiting lists and that counselling is only offered on a short-term basis.

A study of eight university counselling services in Australia and New Zealand found that 100% agreed severity and complexity had increased, 64% were unable to respond to all requests within 2 weeks and there were inadequate staff to student ratios on average 1:3000-5000 students.

It’s common knowledge that getting a PhD is hard. It’s meant to be. Some even say that if you’re not up all night working or skipping meals, you’re doing it wrong. While PhD students are not so naive as to enter the program expecting an easy ride, there is a cost to the endeavour that no one talks about, a psychological one. But keeping problems hidden, and the often-Darwinian culture among graduate students competing for a handful of professorial jobs; too many people assume that psychological problems are only for the weak. In essence, many PhD students are so accustomed to hard work and selfdiscipline that they beat themselves up when their efforts to manage depression fail to generate perfect results.

It’s important that research students directly confront the tenuous realities of the academic job market and plan accordingly with career training. Uncertainty about the future can take a major toll on students, but they’re less likely to suffer if their entire identities aren’t tied to graduate school. The aim is to achieve a balance in life so that a rich world of family, friends, and hobbies give fulfilment where work may not.