Postgraduate Stress and Loneliness

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has advice for me that could help. I am currently doing my masters and Corvid-19 has made things so much more stressful for me. I feel like I am locked up in my accomodation alone and miss having a working environment.

I have always been a hard worker and never missed a deadline. My undergrad went smoothly with no issues so this feeling of stress and constantly feeling overwhelmed is new to me. I feel like my mental health has taken a spin suddenly and is seriously effecting my work.

I have been in contact with my supervisor and been working towards my dissertation. Its due in September and I get sudden panic moments where I start uncontrollably crying. I feel like I can't do it, but I have plans and work towards getting it done. It is my mind frame that is a serious issue. My first term of my masters went great, my results were really good. (3/3 Distinctions). Second term hasn't been as good because of my mind frame. (Passed 2/3, may have to retake one and after crying about it realised I need to wait till it says fail so I can do something about it - it hasn't finished being marked. I have made a plan for when a fail mark arrives. It was that bad. So I know I can deal with this. I have never had to retake before so I don't know the process.

Dissertation stress of finding something original in my work, I have planned my project and I'm working on it. But I get this feeling of its not good enough and I don't know enough. I feel like I'm stupid or just not smart enough anymore. I have meetings with my supervisor every week and I know I have a good work ethic, I just miss having friends to work with at the same time for motivation (haven't spoken to anyone other than my supervisor in almost 3 months). I'm really lonely and tried to reach out to people just to have someone to talk to... But I really don't have anyone.

I've also been searching for a job which has been hard but I know to keep going with this.

If anyone has any advice for my mind frame or is in the same situation... Just anything, I would really appreciate it.

Reply 1

bn1278

Hi, I don't know if I am able to give any advice because I am going through something similar. I have just finished my last assignment of the Spring term and now I have to start with my MSc dissertation and I don't even know how to start and I find it overwhelming. I also have similar thoughts thinking that I am a failure or not smart enough when not getting good grades. I also feel lonely because half of my friends live in another country and the ones that live here I don't see them because of lockdown. I would recommend looking at different online groups and events that your university might organize, I have joined different events like language learning or webinars that offer advice to deal with stress (they all say to eat healthily and do exercise).

Reply 2

Pathway

Can you collaborate online with your friends? Perhaps that'll help the loneliness. Speak to your supervisor and perhaps even your university's student support department too. Failing that your GP is a good person to go to if you're struggling.

Reply 3

shebk

I felt the same way when I did my masters
Postgraduate is very stressful indeed. When I graduated and have a job, I'm much happier than that time
Do you do your master in a UK university?
By the way, do you mind to tell if you are male or female? What do you major in?

Postgraduate Stress and Loneliness

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