That's interesting what you write here. When my sister was completing her PhD..just before testing..she had a MAJOR breakdown. Trying to cram for her testing and worried about her dissertation she just lost it. She completely destroyed her apartment..chopped ALL of her hair off and cut her body.. arms..legs..thighs..hands. Big gashes everywhere. She was mentally broken. She was actually committed for about a month.
I've heard these PhD hopefuls can sometimes break under the enormous amount of stress and pressure to finish.
That was a year ago. She continues now on medication but DID finish school and passed her testing.
I don't know if JH was as far along as my sister in his degrees but.. I can see where one can lose it with so much to complete and such high expectations.
THIS I have seen with my own eyes. Of course my sister only tried to hurt herself.
I am so glad to hear she is doing better now and that she got through her schooling. It is great to hear she is doing better now.
I can definitely relate to the stress involved with trying to pass classes and taking college tests. My degree was just a normal BS degree and I can just imagine how much harder a PHD type degree would be.
A lot of kids ended up changing their major about 2 years into their schooling and for a lot of them, it was a good move. They would change into a degree that was easier on them and at least give them a good chance of graduating. I saw so many engineering students end up changing their majors to something not so intensive and for most it was a good move for them. For some that tried to stick it out, they sometimes would end up dropping out of school altogether but if they had just changed their major, they would have done fine. Each new semester in the dorm, we would see certain people not show up and we knew they probably dropped out and it was sad.
So many emotions and internal stresses on kids in school.
We are all so different and I saw in my dorm how each person is unique in how they cope with college coursework. Some were bookworms, some took things too easy, some it came naturally and they had photographic memories. Everyone dealt with it their own way.
Everyone was different and it was fascinating to see how each person dealt with it in their own way.
The most common thing I recall us all complaining about is how much harder college/university coursework was than high school. Everyone had the same concensus that we all felt like the roof came in on us. So many people in their Freshman year thought it would be a cakewalk like high school was for some of us. We were in for quite a surprise that freshman year.
I actually got mad at my high school when I realized how little I was prepared for college. My high school stunk. It was way too easy and they should have done much better. I began to realize how bad my high school was when I transferred from my middle school. My middle school was so much better.
When I got to high school , it was all review work for me because my middle school had already taught us all the stuff we were covering.
That was the point I realized how important it was to attend good high schools if you can. Kids need to be prepared for what college is going to throw at them.
Anyway, so glad your sister is doing better now. It is wonderful she went back and finished. And it is a huge accomplishment getting PHD. It is amazing. The amount of work to get a degree like that is truly incredible. Kudos to her.
