What Peers Know Intuitively, Science Confirms and What We Can Actually Do About It
Based on conversations within IFERA’s Research Development Team
We, as the Research Development Team, have made a new ritual to open our meeting with a short, more personal opening instead of diving straight into our packed agenda. Early March 2026, during one of such meetings, we were challenged by one of our team members with the following: “Finish this sentence: I wish someone had told me during my PhD that…”No constraints, anything goes: research, life, relationships to peers or seniors. Whatever came to mind. Here’s what is striking: nearly every single response mapped onto something that research has been documenting for years. As peers, we weren’t just sharing. We were diagnosing a systemic condition, intuitively, from the inside out.
The Backdrop We Already Know (But Keep Forgetting)
We have covered mental health among junior scholars previously in our blog, so we’ll keep this part brief [LINK]. Research estimates that 24% of PhD students experience clinically significant depression and 17% experience clinically significant anxiety. Both figures dwarf general population benchmarks.[1] In one widely cited study, 41% of graduate students scored in the moderate-to-severe range for anxiety.[2] Loneliness has been identified as the single strongest predictor of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in doctoral populations.[3]
It is hard to miss that this is a problem. And while we could discuss, fight, and argue about the root causes, the overwhelming question remains: now what? Here we share what came up in our team meeting. These hacks work for some of us, and we hope they may help someone else too.
Hack #1: “You’re Not Alone in This”
Several of us wished someone had told us that many PhD students are out there feeling lost; that belonging matters more than we let on. You’re not alone in this journey, and the downs (especially the brutal ones that make you want to quit) are part of a shared experience. They are not evidence that you’re uniquely broken.
The literature backs them up. Loneliness is clinically dangerous in doctoral contexts; it predicts depression, anxiety, and suicidality more consistently than almost any other variable.[4] A systematic review found consistent benefits across academic, social, psychological, and career domains when structured peer-support programs were in place.[5] The keyword is structured. Informal coffee chats are lovely. Formal peer-mentoring schemes, where check-ins are scheduled and someone notices if you disappear, are what move the needle.
What helps: Peer mentoring programs with regular, scheduled contact. Cohort-based activities that extend beyond the academic. Communities like IFERA’s own Research Development Program, which serve as exactly the kind of belonging infrastructure the literature calls for: A home far away.
Hack #2: “It’s Fine to Have Doubts”
Several of us admitted to experiencing frequent self-doubt, sometimes daily. But a recurring insight in the conversation was that these doubts can be read as confirmation you’re in the right place. That reframe is essentially what self-compassion training teaches you to do.
A randomized controlled trial with 115 PhD students in the Netherlands tested a self-compassion-based Psychological Capital intervention. Participants showed increased self-compassion, reduced perceived work pressure, and greater willingness to seek support. The critical finding: self-compassion was the mechanism that drove longer-term wellbeing gains, while psychological capital alone was not.[6] Treating yourself the way you'd treat a struggling friend turns out to be measurably effective. And replicable.
What helps: Self-compassion workshops integrated into doctoral programs. One tested model combines hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism with self-compassion exercises and can be delivered in a single workshop plus homework. Realistic even for time-starved PhD students.
Hack #3: “Keep Writing”
A common thread in our responses was the wish to have started writing earlier and more independently, without waiting for a supervisor's green light. Writing as habit, as daily practice, came up more than once.
A randomized controlled trial tested structured three-day writing retreats with 100 doctoral researchers. Participation reduced psychological distress and improved psychological, emotional, and social wellbeing. Among all the retreat aspects the researchers measured, only two predicted improvements across all mental health outcomes: perceived productivity and socialization.[7] The feeling of getting something done, in the company of others doing the same, is surprisingly powerful.
In a separate study, a six-week course targeting perfectionism and procrastination in thesis writing produced measurable effects. Participants reported better time management, more willingness to share drafts, and a reduction in unrealistic self-expectations.[8]
What helps: Structured writing retreats, even short ones. Regular writing groups with peers. And a deliberate reframe: writing is a muscle you train.
Hack #4: “Choose Your Supervisor Carefully”
Multiple responses circled around the supervisor relationship. The advice was clear: dedicate real time to selecting your supervisor. Treat it as relationship-building, as something worth months of deliberate investment. And what you don't learn from the supervisor, you can learn from peers. Both observations connect to what recent research describes as supervision being the ‘core relational resource’ in doctoral education.[9] When it functions well, it buffers against workload, uncertainty, and self-doubt. When it doesn’t, those same stressors compound.
What helps: Institutional supervisor training (ideally mandatory) covering mentoring skills, mental health awareness, and clear expectation-setting. Formal supervision agreements that spell out meeting frequency, feedback timelines, and conflict resolution paths. For students specifically: building a mentoring ecosystem beyond the single supervisor, including peers, external advisors, and scholarly networks.
Hack #5: “It’s Okay to Say No”
Time came up repeatedly. Several of us wished we'd learned earlier that it's okay to say no, to cultivate passions outside the PhD, to take real breaks, to separate work life from the rest. One response, likely delivered with a grin, suggested that focusing on how others perform as little as possible might be its own form of wisdom.
The demands-resources framework underpinning much of this research makes a deceptively simple point: your level of perceived stress is a function of the balance between what’s demanded of you and the resources available to you.[10] Self-care, leisure, physical activity, and sleep are resources. A multi-component pilot program called “The Third Half,” tested at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, combined outdoor activities, physical movement, gamification, mentoring, and coaching across six sessions. The outcome: significant increases in emotional well-being and decreased psychological distress[11].
What helps: Deliberate boundary-setting and institutional cultures that reward it. Multi-component wellbeing programs that combine physical activity with social connection and psychological skills. And sometimes, just permission. Someone saying out loud that it’s fine to close the laptop at 6 PM.
From Awareness to Action
Earlier IFERA blog posts on PhD mental health named the problem and helped people feel less alone. This piece tries to take one step further: toward specific, tested responses. We don't have all the answers. But the gap between knowing that doctoral students struggle and knowing what actually helps is one we can start to close. This article shifts the perspective from “How is your thesis going?” to “How are you doing?”
One colleague reminded us during the icebreaker that everyone’s PhD experience will be different. That’s right, of course. There is no universal fix. But there are tested tools, evidence-based programs, and communities of people who understand what you’re going through because they’re going through it too.
So, here’s our challenge to you, reader. Finish the sentence yourself: I wish someone had told me during my PhD that…Then ask: What would change if someone actually did?
References
Acharya, V., Rajendran, A., & Shenoy, S. (2023). A framework for doctoral education in developing students' mental well-being by integrating the demand and resources of the program: An integrative review. F1000Research, 12, 431. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.131766.2
Evans, T. M., Bira, L., Gastelum, J. B., Weiss, L. T., & Vanderford, N. L. (2018). Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education. Nature Biotechnology, 36(3), 282–284. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4089
Friedrich, J., Bareis, A., Bross, M., Bürger, Z., Cortés Rodríguez, Á., Effenberger, N., Kleinhansl, M., Kremer, F., & Schröder, C. (2023). "How is your thesis going?"-Ph.D. Students' perspectives on mental health and stress in academia. PloS One, 18(7), e0288103. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288103
González-Menéndez, E., Cerdán-Torregrosa, A., Ayala-Garcia, A., Donat, M., Ramada, J. M., García-González, G., & Ronda-Pérez, E. (2026). PhD Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being: a Qualitative Study from Doctorates’ Perspective from Five Spanish Universities.International Journal of Educational Psychology, 15(1), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.18151
Kearns, H., & Gardiner, M. (2009). Defeating self-sabotage: getting your PhD finished. ThinkWell.
Mills, L., Read, G. J. M., Bragg, J. E., Hutchinson, B. T., & Cox, J. A. (2024). A study into the mental health of PhD students in Australia: Investigating the determinants of depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 22636. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-72661-z
Satinsky, E. N., Kimura, T., Kiang, M. V., Abebe, R., Cunningham, S., Lee, H., Lin, X., Liu, C. H., Rudan, I., Sen, S., Tomlinson, M., Yaver, M., & Tsai, A. C. (2021). Systematic review and meta-analysis of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation among Ph.D. Students. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 14370. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93687-7
Solms, L., van den Heuvel, M., Nevicka, B., & Homan, A. C. (2025). Be a hero, be your own best friend: a self-compassion-based PsyCap intervention improves PhD students’ well-being. Higher Education, 89(4), 969–999. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01257-3
Vincent, C., Tremblay-Wragg, É., & Plante, I. (2023). Effects of a Participation in a Structured Writing Retreat on Doctoral Mental Health: An Experimental and Comprehensive Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20206953
[1] Satinsky et al. (2021)
[2] Evans et al. (2018)
[3] Mills et al. (2024)
[4] Mills et al. (2024)
[5] Satinsky et al. (2021)
[6] Solms et al. (2025)
[7] Vincent et al. (2023)
[8] Kearns and Gardiner (2009)
[9] González-Menéndez et al. (2026)
[10] Acharya et al. (2023)
[11] Friedrich et al. (2023)
