Well folks, my PhD career is officially over. I'm sorry to say that my wobblesome mental health led to me officially withdrawing from my studies this week. I realised I couldn't give my PhD the kind of attention it required because I was too busy looking after myself and trying to get well. Like most things in life, I reckon a PhD is only worth doing if it's done well and sadly, the standard of my academic work was slipping. I wasn't happy about doing substandard work and decided, on reflection, that I'd rather give it another go at a time when I can give my academic work its full attention.
This decision has been several months in the making and has the full backing of my academic supervisors. It's sad in a way as I started out doing so well but as academics are fond of saying, a PhD is a marathon not a sprint and I just couldn't maintain the high standard required once my health got in the way.
I realise that many people lose a lot more than a PhD opportunity thanks to ill health, but it's been a significant loss for me and I'm, well, I'm gutted. I'm also a bit confused and bewildered about what to do next - my passion is mental health but I'm unsure about my next steps in this area.
On the plus side, taking a step back from academia means I can make my own mental health the priority, along with focusing on family life. (And yes, I realise that I sound a bit like a resigning politician here - "I'm stepping down to spend more time with my family!") But it's true, there's plenty going on with my family at the moment - good stuff, mainly - so I won't be short of things to do whilst I'm deciding what to do next.
