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a phd is not only a symbol of knowledge and ability, but sometimes it is also a label for a successful person. these people have been synonymous with "other people's children" since childhood, and have always regarded changing their destiny through learning as their life goal. in the eyes of others, they are god's chosen ones.

in fact, only they themselves know that studying for a doctorate is far from as good as they imagined.

some time ago, there was a hot search on zhihu: why did some phd students from prestigious universities who committed suicide not drop out? this sparked a lot of discussion. later, the question was blocked, which may have had a negative impact.

in fact, there have been many news reports of phd students from prestigious universities committing suicide in recent years. whenever such news breaks, we all lament why those gifted students who are only one step away from successful graduation would choose to embark on such a thorny road of no return. and often under these news reports, there are always people who ask:"if you can learn, then learn. if you can't, then drop out. why would you commit suicide?"

but dropping out of school may not be that easy.

how often do doctors from prestigious universities commit suicide? some cases become social hot spots and are reported in the news. but many cases may not even be reported.

xiaomu recently found such a judgment while browsing the china judgments online website.

a peking university doctor committed suicide on the eve of his defense.his father sued the school, arguing that this was caused by the school's failure to fulfill its legal obligation to protect the legitimate rights and interests of graduate students.graduate students are subjected to pressure beyond academics.the school does not provide standardized guidance for students.

we hope that the school will be ordered to apologize in writing and make compensation for its unreasonable behaviors such as covering up facts and refusing to take responsibility.

the appeal was later rejected in the second instance.

according to the verdict, doctoral student li is a master's and doctoral student at peking university, majoring in basic psychology in the department of physiology.in the early morning of the day of her doctoral thesis defense, li chose to commit suicide.he left a written will:

"i'm sorry. i screwed up everything. i went against everyone's expectations. i'm a useless loser. mom, dad, i'm sorry. i'm sorry. teacher li, i'm sorry. qian, everyone in the lab, i'm sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. a coward like me has no value in existing."

according to li's parents, they believe the main reason for their child's suicide is:

the revision suggestions given to li in the early stage of the thesis defense were inconsistent with the opinions of the instructor. although li passed the preliminary defense of his doctoral thesis, he was under great psychological pressure.li was unable to handle the situation caused by different academic views.moreover, li's experimental plan was abandoned without any reason, and she herself was unwilling to write different academic opinions in the article and did not know how to revise it, so she chose to commit suicide.

for this reason, the parents sued peking university, claiming that the school had failed to fulfill its legal obligation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its graduate students, causing them to suffer pressures beyond academics, and that the school had failed to guide students in a standardized manner.

later, the court believed that all the evidence provided by li's parents:

evidence such as li's last words, li's doctoral dissertation proposal report review form, li's doctoral dissertation proposal report review meeting record, and li's doctoral dissertation anonymous review, etc.it is impossible to directly prove that peking university has done anything wrong。

in addition, peking university provided some evidence: the instructor had asked li to rest more before the defense, had communicated with her parents by phone, and told them that li had passed the pre-defense, and some classmates said that they saw li was more anxious one month before the defense, but not more anxious than other times. she was not seen three days before the defense. differences in academic opinions are a common phenomenon in academic groups, etc.all of this proves that peking university has fulfilled its relevant obligations.。

therefore, the court ruled that li's parents' request for peking university to bear relevant legal responsibilities lacked factual and legal basis, and the court did not support it. however, the court also believed that li's parents submitted several suggestions for the reform of science doctoral talent training to peking university. although they were submitted as evidence, it can be seen that li's parents had a deep reflection on the incident and put forward profound and pertinent suggestions for the future development of the school and the training of talents, with the aim of avoiding similar tragedies from happening again.peking university should also pay attention to the suggestions made by li's parents and strengthen the psychological monitoring and tracking of students in future education to prevent similar accidents from happening.。

furthermore, in the second instance, the court mentioned:in academic research, it is normal for teachers to have different opinions. it is precisely because of the existence of different opinions that the innovation and development of academic research can be promoted.teachers also have the right to choose experimental plans. the academic road is difficult and long, full of thorns, and the process of thinking must be extremely painful, but this is also the charm of academic research.the academic research process requires not only one's own efforts, but also communication and exchanges with other researchers. as a doctoral student at school, li has full civil capacity. when facing pressure, he can communicate with his teachers or explain the relevant situation to the school, and use various means to solve the problems he faces and resolve his ideological confusion, instead of choosing to end his life by suicide.

therefore, the original verdict was upheld. however, it was also mentioned that peking university should also pay attention to the suggestions made by li's parents.in future education, we will strengthen the detection and tracking of students' psychology, encourage teachers to enhance communication and exchanges with students, and help students improve their psychological defense while strengthening their professional knowledge and skills.。

after reading this, i feel very sorry. on the eve of the doctoral thesis defense, the doctoral student was so close to success, but he chose to stop there forever. behind the incident, it seems that it is impossible to tell who is right and who is wrong with this verdict. but it is worth reflecting on that these graduate students who chose extreme methods have serious psychological problems. and such things are not rare in colleges and universities.

the fifth nature doctoral student survey showed thatchinese doctoral students face enormous challenges on the road to obtaining a doctorate.in many ways,it is a little more difficult for chinese doctoral students than for students from other countries.a very striking figure is that among the chinese students who participated in the survey, only 55% said they were at least partially satisfied with their doctoral careers, while among the 5,630 respondents outside of china, the satisfaction rate reached 72%.

most of the respondents who left comments expressed a relatively negative attitude. one student wrote,“don’t study for a phd in this country. no one will help you, no one will understand you. this is a prison.”another comment reads,“the pressure of studying for a doctorate is too great, more than i expected.”chen di, a cell biologist at nanjing university, said that in many ways, the pressure is part of the system. “most schools require graduate students to publish at least one paper as the first author, and the journal must have a certain impact factor before they can be awarded a doctorate,” he said. “everyone must be productive, which is almost impossible.”

in this environment, the impact of doctoral research on mental health seems to be increasing.

in the survey, 40% of chinese respondents said they had sought help for depression or anxiety caused by their doctoral studies. this is slightly higher than the 36% in other parts of the world. for chinese students, resources in this area are often scarce. among those who have sought help, only 10% of students have received useful help at their alma mater; in other parts of the world, the figure is 28%.

it is also because of this that there are many graduate students who engage in extreme behavior due to excessive psychological pressure. most of them attend prestigious universities. we have seen some of them in reports, but more of them have not even been reported.

the author can find similar questions by simply searching on zhihu.

there are so many, the number is unbelievable.

under these answers, there are always comments:“if you have the courage to commit suicide, why don’t you drop out of school?why go to such an extreme step?"

but in reality, dropping out of school is not that easy!

either hold on or die, these two thoughts are fighting in my mind every day. this is what my friend told me when he encountered a bottleneck in his doctoral studies.

in fact, i believe that many graduate students are like him, thinking that scientific research is beautiful and romantic, but once you enter the laboratory, you will no longer think so. after starting research, various difficulties will inevitably come to you.

for most students, studying for a doctorate is not only a personal matter, but also a family affair.

you have studied hard for more than 20 years, and it is not easy for your family to support you to study for a doctorate. everyone is looking forward to your graduation with a doctorate. how should you tell them that your graduation may be delayed?

often in many families, parents are not phd students and do not have a high level of education. they have no experience in the process of studying for a phd and cannot understand the hard work of those who study for a phd.however, they have high expectations for their children to study for a doctorate and become successful.dropping out of school means that you are not worthy of the expectations and the time you have spent. after all, during this period of time, your peers have already started working and entered the society early. choosing to drop out of school means that all the efforts of these years are in vain. it is equivalent to choosing to stay where you are while others are making progress.

how can i drop out of school under such pressure?

similarly, the choice of dropping out of school will also face pressure from society. a child who has been a favored child since childhood, a child of other people's family, and a role model for everyone, suddenly drops out of school after studying for more than ten years without any results, and becomes a "negative example of the uselessness of studying."

the biggest pressure comes from myself as a doctoral student.

the society is seriously involuted.for graduate students who firmly believe that they will have a future after graduation,if you are faced with the reality that you may not graduate during your graduate studies,often feel insecure and doubtful about oneself. years of hard work cannot bring a good future. this cliff-like gap can only be digested by oneself. should i choose to drop out of school? that means that i have made a wrong choice over the years. it means that i may not be a good student at all. this is a huge blow to a student who has been excellent all the way.

to sum up, the pressure brought by dropping out of school is unsolvable and difficult to face for many students.

if some students complete their master's degree and then go on to a doctorate, then dropping out means at least they still have a master's degree. but some students go straight to a doctorate, and in this case, dropping out means that they won't even have a master's degree. can you afford such a gap in academic qualifications?

so, are there any phd students who choose to drop out? the answer is yes.

some readers have submitted their stories to us.

i started my phd because i was interested in computer graphics and my undergraduate grades were excellent. i thought that as long as i worked hard, i would be able to get a phd. so among the three offers of zhejiang university, tsinghua university and peking university, i chose the most difficult one.

but during the postgraduate study, he felt that he had not made any progress in scientific research and felt that he was just doing amateur science. his supervisor attributed the lack of results in his laboratory to the lack of effort of the students he recruited. however, various signs around him made him realize that "the failure of doctoral study was not his fault."

to sum up, in his fifth year of doctoral study, he chose to drop out.

many people think that he was very impulsive. he said goodbye to a big ip and a big boss like peking university in a hurry because of his passion. what will he do in the future?

but the reader told us that he felt that at least he had faced his own heart and dared to abandon the existing scientific research results and explore another unfamiliar field.

he took the initiative to give himself another possibility in life. even if this possibility does not become a reality in the future, he will not regret it for never having tried it.

being able to study for a phd with a clear mind is a great joy in life, because there are many people who study for the sake of studying for a phd.

a more advanced happiness is to do academic research because of your passion.

because to fulfill yourself is to love yourself, and loving yourself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

from his answer, i felt that his brave decision to drop out of school was his own redemption.

of course, i don’t advocate dropping out of school when you are under pressure or feel depressed. we are all experienced people, and i still hope that everyone can hold on until the day when things turn around.

but what i don’t want to see is excellent students choosing suicide. if you are feeling anxious or depressed because of academics.

it is particularly important to learn to rest and relieve your stress appropriately. we must realize that "scientific research is not everything in your life."

also, you must learn to communicate.

our parents didn’t understand why we couldn’t complete the project assigned by our instructor, so we explained it to them in a simple and understandable way, “dad, mom, my instructor insisted that i study how to use a kitchen knife instead of a scalpel to perform surgery, and no one in the world can figure it out!”

family is always your safe haven. believe that your family can understand and support you.

similarly, you should take more action and proactively seek the advice you need from your mentors and schools.

the most important thing is to figure out what we really want, and then be fearless and try bravely.