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Wellbeing & Support

Taking care of mental health and wellbeing: Resources and tips for DTA researchers

How DTA seeks to support your mental health and wellbeing 

Completing a PhD may be one of the toughest challenges researchers will ever face. It has been recognised that this may well take its toll on mental health and wellbeing, with studies showing that PhD researchers are more likely than the general population to suffer from anxiety and depression. A number of factors have been found to be behind this, including the isolation of carrying out independent research, the heavy workloads, uncertainty about future career prospects and an aggressive research culture. The DTA training programme aims to mitigate some of these factors through the following strategies:

  • offering training electives to develop universal skills that help you take care of your wellbeing during your PhD, manage your workload and keep up the motivation and resilience when things get tough
  • creating a supportive community of PhD researchers and supervisors that facilitates the informal connections that can grow into spaces for vital peer-to-peer support
  • supporting the development of transferable skills as well as highlighting to researchers clear routes to progression following their PhDs within and beyond academia

This document produced by the DTA Team aims to complement these strategies. You can use it to:

  1. find out about the resources available at your institution to support your mental health and wellbeing 
  2. learn about the most common difficulties affecting the mental health of PhD researchers as well as tips to deal with them

Developing your awareness of these issues will help prepare you to look after your own wellbeing throughout the course of your PhD.
It will also better equip you to support any friends or peers who may be struggling themselves. Check out this page from Student Minds for more information about how to support someone suffering with their mental health, as well as how to look after yourself when you do so.

And remember that if you are ever struggling with the unique pressure points of being a PhD researcher, reach out to the DTA team and we will seek to direct you to the support you need. We’re here to help and to listen! 

Vitae RDF Domain B: Personal effectiveness