This book explores the PhD experience as never before and provides a “survival guide” for current and prospective PhD students. The book investigates why mental health issues are so common among the postgraduate population, going beyond the statistics, looking at lived experience of both the author and as well as current PhD students, who have found balancing mental wellness with the PhD endeavour challenging. The author discusses tips and tricks she wished she had known at the start of her PhD process for managing mental health, such as managing imposter feelings, prioritising workload, and self-care strategies to help others throughout their own journey. The book goes beyond typical mental health discussions (where the focus for improving mental health is placed on PhD students to become “more resilient”) and explores some of the often unspoken environmental factors that can impact mental health. These include the PhD student-supervisor relationship, the pressure to publish, and deep systemic problems in academia, such as racism, bullying and harassment. Finally, the book is a call to action, providing tangible improvements from the author’s perspective that university institutions can make to ensure that academia is a place for all to thrive.

As a physician who personally suffers from depression, Susan J. Noonan draws on her own expertise and empathy to create a guide for people who suffer from the disease. Explaining the basics of mental health—including sleep hygiene, diet and nutrition, exercise, routine and structure, and avoiding isolation— Managing Your Depression empowers people to participate in their own care, offering them a better chance of getting, and staying, well. Noonan’s depression management strategies draw on the best available educational resources, psychoeducational programs, seminars, expert health care providers, and patient experiences. The book is specifically designed to be highly readable for people who are finding it difficult to focus and concentrate during an episode of depression. Cognitive exercises and daily worksheets help track progress and response to therapy and provide valuable information for making treatment decisions. A relapsing and remitting condition, depression affects nearly 15 percent of people in the United States. Managing Your Depression will bring depression management strategies to people who do not have access to mental health programs or who want to learn new skills. -- Francis M. Mondimore, M.D., The Johns Hopkins Hospital

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.

You don’t have to be a genius to write a PhD. Of course, it will always involve a lot of hard work and dedication, but the process of writing is a whole lot easier if you understand the basic ground rules. This book is a guide through the dos and don’ts of writing a PhD. It will be your companion from the point when you decide to do a PhD, providing practical guidance to getting started, all the way through the nuts and bolts of the writing and editing process. It will also help you to get - and stay - in the right mental framework and establish good habits from the beginning, putting you in a commanding position later on. Examples are tailored to the biological sciences, offering a unique reference for PhD students in these disciplines. Embarking on a PhD doesn’t need to be daunting, even if it’s your first experience working within academia. Each short section focuses on writing - considered by many to be the most difficult aspect of a PhD - and delves into a practical detail of one aspect, from the title to the supplementary material. Whether you’re a student just starting your studies, an early career researcher or a supervisor struggling to cope, the book provides the insider information you need to get ahead.

"Mastering Your PhD: Survival and Success in the Doctoral Years and Beyond" helps guide PhD students through their graduate student years. Filled with practical advice on getting started, communicating with your supervisor, staying the course, and planning for the future, this book is a handy guide for graduate students who need that extra bit of help getting started and making it through. While mainly directed at PhD students in the sciences, the book's scope is broad enough to encompass the obstacles and hurdles that almost all PhD students face during their doctoral training. Who should read this book? Students of the physical and life sciences, computer science, math, and medicine who are thinking about entering a PhD program; doctoral students at the beginning of their research; and any graduate student who is feeling frustrated and stuck. It's never too early -- or too late! This second edition contains a variety of new material, including additional chapters on how to communicate better with your supervisor, dealing with difficult people, how to find a mentor, and new chapters on your next career step, once you have your coveted doctoral degree in hand.

There has been much recent commentary regarding a ‘crisis’ in academic mental health and wellbeing. This Research Handbook showcases cutting-edge studies and insightful narratives on the wellbeing of doctoral students, early career researchers, and faculty members, illuminating the current state of academic mental health research. Importantly, authors also offer potential solutions to the increasingly poor mental health reported by those working and studying in the higher education sector.

Practical, day-to-day ways to manage your depression. Some call it the blues or a storm in their head. William Styron referred to it as "darkness visible." Whatever the description, depression is a disorder of the mind and body that affects millions of adults at some point in their lives. In Take Control of Your Depression, Dr. Susan J. Noonan provides people experiencing depression with strategies to take stock of their mental state, to chart a course toward emotional balance, and to track their progress on the journey to well-being. Writing from her personal experience as both a recipient and a provider of mental health services, Dr. Noonan explains how to obtain care from professionals, outlines what medical options are available, and lists everyday things people can do to feel better. Integrating medicine, psychology, and holistic care while exploring the basics of mental health, she touches on diet, sleep habits, physical activity, and mindfulness techniques. This useful and compassionate workbook, which is specifically designed for people who find it difficult to focus and concentrate during a depressive episode, includes • proven relapse prevention and resilience techniques • targeted cognitive exercises • daily worksheets that can be used to track your progress and response to therapy • the fundamentals of Cognitive Behavior Therapy • advice on dealing with family and friends • guidance from remarkable people on depression • a discussion of how technology and social media can be used to manage well-being • a section on treatment-resistant depression • specialized tips aimed at women, men, adolescents, the elderly, and people dealing with chronic illness The only workbook on depression that combines a discussion of medical options, talk therapy techniques, and established self-help strategies, Take Control of Your Depression empowers individuals to participate in their own care, which offers them a better chance of recovery and of staying well. Praise for Other Books by Susan J. Noonan "This practical and compassionate handbook is perfectly suited to individuals living with depression: in accessible language, it offers firm, specific advice and quick cognitive tests and self-assessment metrics that even those in the deepest of doldrums will find helpful and relevant . . . a valuable volume for those suffering from depression, as well as for loved ones who are fighting the fight by their side."—Publisher's Weekly "From defining a baseline of depression to charting moods and preventing relapses, this workbook is a top pick for any depression sufferer!"—Reference and Research Book News "This practical guide is an important contribution to the growing genre of self-help works on this topic."—Library Journal "This text is a much-needed addition to mental health literature, as depression is stigmatized and few understand how to support friends and loved ones who frequently do not obtain help on their own."—American Reference Books Annual "This book offers useful insight for any health professional working within mental health . . . It is of enormous value to the layperson, hungry for knowledge about how best to interact and help their loved one face the dreadful ravages of depression."—Nursing Times