PhD students in their final year become especially stressed. The tension of deadlines, running around getting papers approved and accepted and writing a thesis make them obvious victims of stress. Their duties take most of their time. In the final year the world suddenly shrinks and is reduced to one activity: work.
You can be affected without knowing. Symptoms of stress are more or less in every situation the same: nervousness, temporary amnesia, melancholia, dizziness and so on. With so many symptoms the cure is different from case to case. It helps to take vitamins or to boost your energy drinking coffee; it helps to take a walk in the forest or to play sports with friends; it helps to do yoga or to go to a doctor. The secret is to do something you enjoy: take up a forgotten hobby, cook your own enchanting aromas and try to sleep comfortably.
Theoretically speaking everything is very easy, costless and painless because all you need is your mind. But how do people cope with final year stress? Two final year PhD students tell their story.
Magda Avramescu, PhD student in Chemical Technology: 'I don't know if I can say that I feel more stressed now, in the last year of my Ph.D., than in the first year. It is another kind of stress, it's true, but honestly now I feel more confident, more mature, and much more motivated than in the first year.'
Marc Schrijver is in the final year of his PhD stage in Electrical Engineering. He says that although, of course, he does feel more stress than he did in his first year, his activities are very different too. 'In my first year, I was mainly browsing through different techniques, approaches, ideas, etc., while now, I know exactly what I have to do. In fact, I have many more ideas than I can handle, so most of the stress is probably caused by the fact that I won't have time to research it all. I have to make a selection, which is frustrating sometimes. In the first year I could pursue anything I found interesting; now I have to be very selective.'
Magda does not feel stress until she has doen what she was supposed to do, 'when I am working for a presentation or for a paper I don't feel tired until I finish it. Of course my colleagues, my friends, even my family can feel it all the time. because I become more nervous, irascible, I focus just on my work, I even forget to call my mother or my boyfriend. But I can count on my colleagues for anyproblems, and my supervisor is really encouraging. He reminds me that I am able to do things well and I just have to convince myself.'
Marc does not feel that he suffers from stress too much. 'But in the weeks or days before deadlines, I find myself working in the evenings too. On such days I'm constantly trying to find the solutions to the (practical) problems I encounter, even when I'm eating, when I'm commuting, etc. And that is not by choice, because I would prefer to spend my spare time thinking of something a little nicer. But sometimes that's the only way to get my work done to my satisfaction.'
'I don't have an infallible anti-stress recipe', Magda says. But by doing other things besides science, she tries to diminish it. 'I like to go dancing, skating swimming or I just take care of my garden and my plants. I really love to cook and I like to organise dinners or barbecues with my friends on sunny days.' She tries to enjoy the summer holidays as much as possible, travelling, seeing new places, meeting new people. She likes taking pictures to see them in the winter or in the moments she is tired and stressed.
To avoid stress Marc also tries to avoid work-related activities in the evenings and weekends. He tries to work out two to three times a week, spend time with friends, choose activities that make him forget about work. 'Furthermore, at work, I try to organise my tasks as much as possible, and prioritise the deadlines: first-things-first. So, I don't make a tight schedule, as that would only add to the stress. I just make sure I have to worry about one deadline at a time.'
