Pain vs. passion

Students are often told to choose a dissertation topic that they "feel passionate" about. Such a recommendation makes sense in that you will be working, reading, and writing intensively on the topic for a year or more. Caring about the topic makes sense. However, today I want to caution you against choosing a topic that has impacted you or a loved one and that affects you emotionally. Let me give you an example, if your parent, who you were the caregiver for, died of cancer- choosing the topic of cancer caregiving may be too close. Notice your body's responses when you consider the topic, if you feel that you are withdrawing from the topic, as evidenced by not wanting to read about it or write about it, that is a warning. Yes, you may be passionate about it, but do not put yourself through the continual pain and frustration of working in that area. 

Many students who disregard this advice find themselves dropping out of dissertation, having bouts of frustration, anger, and self-doubt. Think about it, if you were required to do a difficult task in which every time you started to do it you were hit in the stomach, you would very soon rebel against it. This is exactly what is happening on an emotional level when you choose a tender topic. 

So what can you do if you the topic you are passionate about brings you pain? Consider a related, but different topic. For example using the cancer caregiving example, you might look at caregiving in a different disease or context, maybe with dementia patients, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, etc. Alternatively, you could look at a different aspect of cancer, perhaps resilience in adolescent cancer patients. Again, pay attention to what your body is telling you, if it feels too close, it should be changed. 

What do you do if you are already in the midst of your dissertation study and realize that the topic is causing you a lot of emotional pain (some symptoms: avoiding writing, sleepless nights, depression, anxiety). I suggest talking to your chair and discussing the situation. See if you can come up with a shift in topic that will allow to work without the pain.  

Take care of yourself; listen to your body and the emotional evidence. The dissertation should be challenging but also interesting, it should not be painful. Next time we will look at finding a topic for your dissertation.