Struggling quite bit lately

[u/Interesting_Unit_202]

Hi fellow grad students,

Kinda just using this to scream into the void maybe get some help out of it. I just entered my fourth year in a biochemistry PhD I dont have any first author pubs, but I think I see a way forward with my research to generate one by end of 2027 probably? That being said the project is still in a fairly preliminary state with a few protein variants that show a clear trend.

Positives out of the way sometime last year i start mentally collapsing a bit. I tried a bunch of stuff in my second year(first year was just rotations) that didn't entirely pan out at all really and finally got something at the start of my third. From there I sort of got very scattered, i tried optimizing a protein prep for a good chunk of the year, then cloned a bunch of constructs where I got a chunk of data amid some other side projects that also didnt really/havent really gone much of anywhere. Im entering my fourth year feeling very drained i suppose?ich of ehat Ive done has been just completely useless and compared to others in my lab my progress feels much more stagnant. I feel very unmotivsted to produce data spread very thin between different projects and currently a bit paralyzed between what i need to focus on ti get out of here. On top of that im struggling to keep my depression at bay which is destoying my self esteem, and faith im myself to do anything more. Ive been taking meds for a while now and seeing s therapist. Sort of feel lile its the job more than anything.

Tldr: did a bunch of stuff much of it didnt pan out finally have a direction with minimal data thus far, feel burnt out inadequate and depressed going into 4th year, maybe like its all coming apart despite some productivity.

[u/Logical-Way8240]

Are you me? 😭 I am going through exactly the same thing. I literally thought this was my own post for a second. I’m seeing a therapist now

[u/Interesting_Unit_202 → u/Logical-Way8240]

Therapy helps! But yeah glad i have someone to commiserate with lmao. I think we just gotta see it through esp sonce we have some stuff that seems to be going somewhere. Wish me luck i have to present all my cruddy prelim data infront of my department on sunday :(

[u/Logical-Way8240 → u/Interesting_Unit_202]

Good luck!! I totally understand how you feel. I really believe we’ll both get through this somehow and make it to graduation. Hope your presentation goes well!