Italy’s PhD students face mental health crisis

Half the country’s doctoral candidates show “clinically relevant” scores for depression, anxiety and stress

Mental health problems are plaguing Italy’s PhD candidates, who are feeling increasingly frustrated and disillusioned about their futures, according to La disillusione del dottorato Italiano, a major survey of this vital section of the research community.

Roughly half of PhD candidates show “clinically relevant” scores for depression, anxiety and stress, according to a report from the Italian Association of Doctoral Candidates and PhDs (ADI, Associazione Dottorandi e Dottori di Ricerca).