Anxiety

It is very common, while working on a dissertation, to feel anxious. It may be that you doubt your ability to complete it; you may worry about whether you are good enough, or if you are doing it right. You may find yourself waking in the middle of the night, worrying.

It is important to realize that such worries and doubts are normal. You are involved in a difficult project that you have never done before. You may find it helpful to write down your concerns and think about if there is anything that can do to reduce the anxiety. A few examples, you could talk to your chair about your progress, are you progressing normally? You could take some of the writing center's short courses to improve your writing. Maybe you could attend a research intensive, and make some significant progress in a short period of time. 

You should also spend some time considering how you tend to cope with stress. There are many ways to reduce it, but they typically require conscious thought. Some common methods include gardening, playing with your children, going for a walk, working on a hobby, reading for pleasure, meditation, or listening to music.  

Develop some strategies and a plan for how to deal with your dissertation stress. A great plan is to work on the paper for a certain length of time each day; this allows you to know that you are making progress, which in turn reduces the worry. 

What do you do if your anxiety feels excessive? It may be worth talking to a professional. Walden’s Student Assistance Program, GuidanceResources Online, offers students free and confidential counseling on a variety of personal and professional issues that may be affecting the quality of their learning experience. Experienced clinicians are available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 1-866-465-8942.

• Website: www.guidanceresources.com/groWeb, for additional resources, including referrals and planning tools.

• Company ID: SAP4EDU (Students can find the Walden ID for this service on their myWalden university portal.) 

Next time, we will take a look at citations. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu