by Bill Sheate
Why a PhD is different….
As a therapist specialising in stress and anxiety in higher education I get to work with lots of PhD and other postgraduate research students who at times find life tough to navigate. I also run a range of resilience skills training workshops to help build greater self-efficacy among such students.
Doing a PhD is a bit of a weird lifestyle; you get to research something you're interested in for typically 3 to 4 years, writing it up as a thesis to then be awarded the title 'Doctor'. During that time you usually have a degree of freedom to manage your own time and develop personal ownership of your research project, even if it is part of a bigger research programme. But there are several things that can predispose a PhD student to experience difficulties along the way, or find it difficult to respond to these difficulties with sufficient psychological flexibility. Here are just some of those most important key factors…… [Read more]
by Bill Sheate
…...because it is what it is.
Anxiety is typically future focused - a fear that something bad is going to happen and I won't be able to cope. And so we worry - as a coping strategy, believing (unconsciously) that all that over-thinking will somehow solve our anxiety, find the answer - except that it won't. It prolongs the thinking to try to avoid anxiety, but the struggle means we engage ever more in thinking about the very thing we are anxious about and so maintain the cycle…….[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
The new normal for universities?
As countries slowly begin to emerge from lock-down, universities have been busy trying to work out what the new landscape will look like come the Autumn of 2020 and the new academic year. In this third post of what has now become a series, I’m looking ahead to anticipate what teaching and learning at universities might look like this next year and how that could impact on students’ and staff mental health and well-being……..[Read more]
by Bill Sheate
When worry becomes the problem….
What is worry?
One way to look at worry is that it is the brain’s random attempt at problem solving, but to no avail. A more formal definition is the:
“Prolonged and fruitless search for a solution that will provide safety from the perceived threat of harm” (Clark and Beck, 2010)
Worry is typically future-focused; it is the opposite of present moment awareness (mindfulness). It’s about excessive thoughts that go round and round, creating stories we tell ourselves about what might happen and asking ourselves what we can do about it - ‘what-if’ questions about the future. ………..
by Bill Sheate
A cry for help.....
A recent IPPR study reported in The Guardian has found suicides among UK university students at record levels (The Guardian, 2 September 2017 - Suicide is at record level among students at UK universities, study finds).
We have known for a long time about rising demand for university counselling services and a common assumption is that it is a response to rising student debt due to tuition fees and that universities need to invest more in those services. Well, yes, they do, but the issue is far more fundamental than that on at least two different levels..........
by Bill Sheate
Mental Health Awareness Week 8-14 May 2017 – Resilience Skills are Transferable Skills
This week - in Mental Health Awareness Week - I’ve concluded the last of six core sessions of what is now an annual programme of resilience skills training for our one-year MSc course in Environmental Technology at Imperial College London. I see the programme as an integral part of transferable skills training – those skills and attributes now seen as at least as important by employers as the qualifications our students leave with. Indeed, by seeing mental health resilience skills as part of transferable skills we can begin to break down the reluctance of some to even consider going to a mindfulness or relaxation class..........
