1. There’s an awful cost to getting a PhD that no one talks about
One night during the third year of my PhD program, I sat on my bed with a packet of tranquilizers and a bottle of vodka. I popped a few pills in my mouth and swigged out of the bottle, feeling them burn down my throat. Moments later, I realized I was making a terrible mistake. I stopped, trembling as I realized what I’d nearly done.
The beginning alone is quite a ride, and it stays grim from there. The article talks about the price of getting a PhD degree: depression, anxiety attacks, and a rate of mental illness far above the population average. The competition is fierce, and no one pities the weak: defend or die.
