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First a little background:

So I am in the middle of my PhD and recently came down with pretty severe depression. I would not say my PhD work is the cause of it (I am not in a toxic lab) but the immense pressure to always deliver is definitely not helping.

I feel like I am still affected by the general culture in academia and that it is not very accommodating of my struggles with mental illness. Living up to the "student really passionate about their research dedicating their life to it" is pretty damn hard when you sometimes lose control and cry for days, can't get out of bed, and battle suicidal ideation. This makes me frustrated, because I feel like that is not fair and inclusive of people who struggle with mental illness.

Mostly for myself, I started to write a personal narrative essay describing my experience and frustration. Then I had the thought to submit it to Science Working Life — maybe there's someone out there with similar struggles that would feel seen and inspired from reading it?

Now the question(s):

Maybe this is my anxious side all over again, over-thinking everything, but if you were me would you submit deeply personal writing like this  ? Do you think it could have value? Would you as a reader value something like this  ?

P.S. To anyone else struggling you are not alone ♡

First a little background:

I am in the middle of my PhD and recently came down with pretty severe depression. I would not say my PhD work is the cause of it (I am not in a toxic lab), but the immense pressure to always deliver is definitely not helping.

I feel like I am still affected by the general culture in academia and that it is not very accommodating of my struggles with mental illness. Living up to the "student really passionate about their research dedicating their life to it" is pretty damn hard when you sometimes lose control and cry for days, can't get out of bed, and battle suicidal ideation. This makes me frustrated, because I feel like that is not fair and inclusive of people who struggle with mental illness.

Mostly for myself, I started to write a personal narrative essay describing my experience and frustration. Then I had the thought to submit it to Science Working Life — maybe there's someone out there with similar struggles that would feel seen and inspired from reading it?

Now the question(s):

Maybe this is my anxious side all over again, overthinking everything, but if you were me, would you submit deeply personal writing like this? Do you think it could have value? Would you, as a reader, value something like this?

P.S.: To anyone else struggling, you are not alone ♡

First a little background:

So I am in the middle of my PhD and recently came down with pretty severe depression. I would not say my PhD work is the cause of it (I am not in a toxic lab), but the immense pressure to always deliver is definitely not helping. I feel like I am still affected by the general culture in academia and that it is not very accommodating of my struggles with mental illness. Living up to the "student really passionate about their research dedicating their life to it" is pretty damn hard when you sometimes lose control and cry for days, can't get out of bed, and battle suicidal ideation. This makes me frustrated, because I feel like that is not fair and inclusive of people who struggle with mental illness. Mostly for myself, I started to write a personal narrative essay describing my experience and frustration. Then I had the thought to submit it to Science Working Life — maybe there's someone out there with similar struggles that would feel seen and inspired from reading it?

Now the question(s):

Maybe this is my anxious side all over again over-thinking everything, but if you were me would you submit deeply personal writing like this? Do you think it could have value? Would you as a reader value something like this?

P.S. To anyone else struggling you are not alone ♡

First a little background:

So I am in the middle of my PhD and recently came down with pretty severe depression. I would not say my PhD work is the cause of it (I am not in a toxic lab) but the immense pressure to always deliver is definitely not helping. 

I feel like I am still affected by the general culture in academia and that it is not very accommodating of my struggles with mental illness. Living up to the "student really passionate about their research dedicating their life to it" is pretty damn hard when you sometimes lose control and cry for days, can't get out of bed, and battle suicidal ideation. This makes me frustrated, because I feel like that is not fair and inclusive of people who struggle with mental illness. 

Mostly for myself, I started to write a personal narrative essay describing my experience and frustration. Then I had the thought to submit it to Science Working Life — maybe there's someone out there with similar struggles that would feel seen and inspired from reading it?

Now the question(s):

Maybe this is my anxious side all over again, over-thinking everything, but if you were me would you submit deeply personal writing like this  ? Do you think it could have value? Would you as a reader value something like this  ?

P.S. To anyone else struggling you are not alone ♡