Posted by Carol on April 6, 1999, at 18:41:38
In reply to Re: grad school and depression, posted by Elizabeth on April 6, 1999, at 1:28:03
My depression was finally diagnosed in grad school. Originally, we thought it was just incredible PMS..but there was an underlying depression which had been around most of my life.
I was reasonably lucky. My professor let me stay in the program, even though I had one incredibly bad year (it helped that I had outside funding then, so I wasn't wasting HIS money). I had a few disasters--like braeking down after my oral exam, when the only comments were the need for some written revisions...
I've been out of school for almost 10 years, and I still occasionally have nightmares that they will make me go back and start all over (worse around "evaluation" times at work). I am happy that I completed school, but much of my surviving was due to the fact that I'm incredibly stubborn, and I refused to lose the time I had already invested in the program (PhD, Chemistry)
Try to find a shoulder--if your therapist isn't willing, try the health center--I found a good GP who was at the school while her husband was doing a postdoc.
It took me about 1 1/2 years longer than normal to finish, and the last year felt like it took forever.
Please e-mail me if you have more questions, or want to discuss further.
Best of luck
Carol
poster:Carol
thread:4323
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990401/msgs/4488.html