The Hidden Struggles: Exploring the Mental and Physical Health Challenges of PhD Students

Abstract

Given the requirements of the modern world, the demand for doctoral degree has increased tremendously. The growing need for getting higher education has placed many young professionals under enormous pressure to enhance their academic qualification. In such a scenario the struggle for acquisition of a PhD degree is more challenging for students of developing countries to complete their research degree in the stipulated time, without psychological and physical exhaustion. The current research, therefore, aimed to study the psychological and physical health challenges faced by PhD students in the developing country Pakistan. Qualitative research design was used to explore the causes and impact of psychological and physical health problems among PhD students. Data was collected from a sample of 71 research students through 14 focus group discussions, conducted in various universities of major cities of the country. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was used to analyze the data, revealing two overarching themes: 1) psychological health determinants (psychological distress, psychological pressure, personality traits, motivation, aggression, and psychosomatic symptoms); and 2) physical health determinants (physical health, physical fitness, and traveling).  The findings of this studyprovide an evidence that PhD students endure many psychological and physical health struggles during their doctoral journey, exclaiming the need forpractical steps to be taken by academia and policy makers in an effort to restore and ensure the wellbeing of this category of academic workers.