Table 6 Reasons why Ph.D. students revealed their depression to undergraduate researchers
Theme | Description | Percent (N = 14)a | Example student quote 1 | Example student quote 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Supportive reveal | Student wanted to reveal their depression to act as a mentor by normalizing struggling with mental health. | 50% | Student 16: “It just felt like my duty to let [the undergraduates] know that graduate school is hard and I'm not going to fake that it's a really happy time so that they know what to expect.” | Student 21: “I think I just wanted [undergraduates] to understand if they were going to choose grad school, the [depressive] feelings they would have, and that they were not alone in them.” |
No judgement—other person struggles with mental health | Student reports that they did not think they would be judged for revealing because the undergraduate also struggles with mental health. | 43% | Student 4: “I think it was kind of a sense of camaraderie because they were also struggling [with depression]. (…) When somebody tells me, ‘Oh, I'm struggling with depression right now,’ then I can be like, ‘Oh my God, me too.’ And then it feels very supportive.” | Student 15: “One of the undergraduates was like, ‘I have bipolar disorder and I'm really depressed sometimes.’ And I was like, ‘You know what? Thank you for sharing that. Here's the way that I identify with that and here's what we can do together.’” |
No judgement—personal relationship | Student reports that they did not think they would be judged for revealing because they had developed a close personal relationship with the undergraduate researcher. | 36% | Student 6: "An undergraduate [I mentored in the lab] who worked with me for two years was a friend. I'd known him for a long time, which is why I was able to come clean to him [about my depression]." | Student 19: “I think [the undergraduate and I] have known each other longer than we've worked together so we already had that relationship and that trust built in.” |
Preventative reveal | Student perceived that depression would impact or was impacting their mood or performance in research and revealed depression preemptively to avoid judgement or conflict. | 14% | Student 29: “I felt bad that I was unprepared. I was late, basically. So, I felt the need to explain why.” | Student 6: “Well, the people I worked over, the undergraduates, needed to know [about my depression] because that was rude of me when I was late.” |