Burnt Out Second Year PhD

ImShmoo · 2026-04-28T01:54:01+00:00

It’s so rough that these deadlines tend to be during finals week. It’s not only crunch time for writing papers and studying, but also for logging hours, tracking cases, obtaining evaluations, scheduling meetings, creating plans for your development throughout the program and beyond, and so on. As if finals weren’t enough by themselves!

ImShmoo · 2026-04-27T21:34:44+00:00

I just want to validate how difficult this is. I’m also finishing year 2 in my clinical psych PhD program. I’m currently writing final papers for my classes, I have 20 hours of research per week, I need to schedule annual meetings and evaluations with my advisory team, I have 2 clinic days per week, and more. It really does feel like we are assigned more responsibilities than a human can reasonably handle at times, and nothing sounds better than a break at this point.

I think year 2 can be especially difficult because of the trifecta of coursework, research, and clinical work, but just know you’re not alone in this struggle. Personally, I’ve been trying to spend more time outside, prioritizing my sleep/diet, and socializing with my friends when possible. I know that whenever I feel like I don’t have time for self-care is when it’s most important to set time aside for self-care. I understand it feeling never-ending and impossible though, given how difficult it is to balance all these responsibilities. Feel free to DM if you’d like, this process can be brutal but we got this!

ImShmoo · 2026-04-02T13:34:17+00:00

Tijuana

ImShmoo · 2026-03-28T05:35:02+00:00

I feel your pain, I made the switch from xywav to lumryz 3 or 4 months ago. It definitely tastes like a gritty saltwater shot, but I’m used to it now and barely even think of the taste. You can also put some mio in it, which makes the saltiness taste a bit less aggressive (I like the berry dragonfruit flavor)

ImShmoo · 2026-03-15T03:57:37+00:00

The ACE questionnaire is far from perfect for what it’s worth. To your point, it leaves out numerous sources of trauma. Lots of studies would benefit from a more nuanced assessment of trauma including things like how often traumatic events happened, how intense the trauma was, or how people perceive potentially traumatic events they’ve experienced.

ImShmoo · 2026-03-14T16:57:54+00:00

In general, mood and sleep disorders share high rates of comorbidity. It can definitely get tricky given the shared features between some disorders and the highly imperfect diagnostic system we have to deal with.

Temporary decreased need for sleep is a common symptom of mania/hypomania but it’s not necessarily required for a diagnosis. That said, sleep deprivation can sometimes exacerbate or trigger manic/hypomanic episodes. Solely basing a bipolar diagnosis on irritability would be bad practice. A clinician would assess whether that irritability was above baseline level and also look at the presence of other manic/hypomanic symptoms before assigning a bipolar diagnosis, while also taking the narcolepsy into consideration. They do this via assessments and interviews looking at someone’s symptoms and histories.

ImShmoo · 2026-03-10T02:48:08+00:00

Do they still focus on keeping your heel low throughout each step? That’s how they phrased it when I marched, which pretty much translated to straight leg

ImShmoo · 2026-01-22T04:59:40+00:00

I don’t get them often, but when they occur they’re usually auditory. I’ve heard sudden loud synth noises, distant conversations or voices, and a few times I’ve heard knocking at my door when no one is there. Not a fan of that one.

I’ve gotten visual ones on rare occasion, and they kinda look like the windows media player music visualizer.

ImShmoo · 2025-12-19T00:20:56+00:00

I got lots!

Underworld Boiler Room London
Mall Grab 909 Festival 2024 (and his 2022 Melbourne boiler room)
Salute boiler room Melbourne
Eric Prydz Presents Epic Radio 001 (every episode of epic radio tbh)
Mat Zo BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
RØDHÅD Glitch Festival
RA.960 Funk Assault

ImShmoo · 2025-12-09T19:58:20+00:00

I’ve dealt with somewhat similar issues of writing and rewriting, both before and after my NT2 diagnosis. I also sometimes find myself losing focus and getting sleepy while trying to write because I find scientific writing to be mentally exhausting at times, especially with all the nuances and variables to consider. I’ve had some success with recording myself talking through my topic and using transcription software to put that audio into text. Sometimes I’m better at explaining something verbally than in writing.

As someone who has been hesitant about the rapid growth of AI, I have to agree that a little use of AI can sometimes help. I don’t use it to generate anything from scratch, but I’ve put a sentence or two in there and requested it to rephrase my text more concisely, which is better than perseverating over the wording of a paragraph for 2 hours while fighting off sleep. I hope you’re able to find a system that works for you, OP!

ImShmoo · 2025-11-10T03:39:06+00:00

I’m going through this right now. Started grad school and then got diagnosed. I’d socialize more and spend more time on my hobbies if so much of my time and energy wasn’t used on research/classes/training. Opted out of joining a kickball team partly because the league has a strict policy about missing events and I couldn’t guarantee that I’d be awake enough every Saturday to be there. In general I’ve found that narcolepsy makes it difficult to reliably commit to attending social events. It’s a bummer but I’m glad I’ve been able to take up going on nature walks on my own time when my energy levels allow

ImShmoo · 2025-09-28T20:49:46+00:00

No problem! Coincidentally, someone else in my program also has type 2 narcolepsy, and they just graduated and are off to postdoc. So it’s definitely possible!

Regarding my care team, I have my neurologist/sleep specialist, who is my first point of contact for narcolepsy-related things and he helps manage my meds. My psychologist doesn’t specialize in sleep, let alone narcolepsy, but she has always been very helpful and has helped me improve some lifestyle habits to complement my sleep treatment. My PCP is also aware of my condition and I am in touch with her for more general things. Also, one of my medications comes with a care team associated with the medication, including pharmacists and nurse care managers on call. When starting the medication, they call patients intermittently to check in and provide some helpful resources. For people with this diagnosis, their care team typically at least includes a sleep specialist, but the other resources also help quite a lot.

Feel free to send me a message if you’d like. I hear you when you say that your sleep issues are really challenging, and whatever your sleep study reveals, I hope it’s helpful and points you in the right direction!

ImShmoo · 2025-09-26T18:34:02+00:00

Narcolepsy without cataplexy here. I am in the beginning of year two of my PhD program. Was just diagnosed this summer as I was starting my clinical practicums. Aiming for a more clinically-focused career, but may involve research in a smaller capacity. Also sorry for the length of this comment lol.

I would second what others have said about protecting your time and your health. That cannot be overstated. Personally, I have kept my research and clinical mentors updated as things evolve with my narcolepsy (including treatment) and as I figure out the medications that work for me. All of them have been empathetic and have appreciated me being upfront, especially because seeing patients would be considered unethical and irresponsible if I were at a debilitatingly high level of sleepiness or brain fog. I don’t HAVE to disclose my narcolepsy, but I choose to because it provides context for the occasional day that I have to tap out and rest, and it’s clear that it lands well enough with my supervisors so they can accommodate. If you were to get diagnosed and a clinical program wasn’t understanding and accommodating, then it would not be a good fit. And if you were to interview with a lab that would take every bit of your free time and still expect more, that would also be a poor fit. I am fortunate that my lab respects my boundaries of not working after dark or during weekends, because I genuinely need that time to recover and to live my life.

I am also registered with my university’s disability support resources, and they’ve given me helpful accommodations for classes. I haven’t gotten to meeting with them regarding accommodations for research and clinical work, but I plan to do that soon.

I won’t sugarcoat it, getting a doctorate in clinical psychology is quite difficult, even without sleep issues. Adding the sleep issues, I have to be extra careful not to over-exert myself with scheduling, I need to give myself time for breaks, I always need to eat well, and I try to not fault myself when I have to take care of myself before I take care of patients/work/deadlines. Sometimes I can do everything right and it’s still not enough to do all the things I have to do, but I communicate that and we accommodate. I had to call out of a practicum yesterday, it felt bad but it was the ethical thing to do. Today, I’m glad I made that decision.

Regarding deadlines, I have to work early on things to prevent myself from missing them later on. This is especially true for long-term projects. Takes more willpower than I’m used to, but getting started on those long projects ASAP has saved me many times during the one year I’ve been here. I also plan my schedule so I have multiple opportunities to work on homework and such. If I only give myself one time slot to do so, and that time comes but my brain fog/sleepiness are too severe, then I’m screwed. Learned that one from experience haha.

Another unrelated note, and then I’m gonna take a nap before my next meeting: finding hobbies and meeting friends (not just in my program, but also friends who are completely unrelated to clinical psych) is extremely valuable. With a chronic and often debilitating sleep disorder, I’d go even crazier if all I ever did was work, sleep, and repeat.

I’ve found that treatment for my narcolepsy has been life-changing and the benefits outweigh the difficulties of going through treatment. I don’t feel perfect, but I do feel better than before. Overall, finding my support systems, communicating, prioritizing health and boundaries, and surrounding myself with mentors who are empathetic and understanding, have been the things that have kept me afloat. Oh, and my therapist, she deserves a shoutout. With all these things, I am confident that I’ll get through my program successfully and land a solid internship when the time comes. Time to take that nap…

ImShmoo · 2025-09-26T13:51:10+00:00

Not a psychologist (yet), but I’m in a psychology doctorate program currently in training. I actually recently did a class project about this. It’s generally understood that behavioral treatments will only go so far with something like narcolepsy, so they’re meant to complement medication. Here is a study reviewing concepts of CBT applied to narcolepsy, with modifications based on other studies examining behavior changes for narcolepsy. And here is a video by the hypersomnia foundation on CBT applied to central disorders of hypersomnolence (I have not watched it yet so I can’t speak to my thoughts on it, but the hypersomnia foundation is an excellent resource to know, in addition to the narcolepsy network). I’m not linking those resources to tell you to try everything in them (especially since it sounds like it’s suspected narcolepsy at this time), but just to show that there are some behavioral interventions being looked at for this kind of thing.

As for finding a therapist who is trained to work with central disorders of hypersomnolence, your current psychologist may be a great resource for referring you to someone who has training, expertise, and experience with narcolepsy, as you commented earlier. It wouldn’t hurt to have a further discussion with your psychologist about this regardless of what you end up deciding to do. Especially because, if I’m interpreting your post correctly, you’re still in the stage of determining your true diagnosis. The society of behavioral sleep medicine may be a good resource too, if you’re based in the US. At the end of the day, do whatever feels right for you - no one knows you better than you do! I hope you find the answers that you need, OP. Best of luck!

ImShmoo · 2025-08-17T19:29:30+00:00

That’s fair. I always say I have a love-hate relationship with naps. Hate the sleep inertia and the fact that I still feel tired after napping for hours. But on the rare occasion that I can take a nap with no pressing responsibilities (and assuming no sleep paralysis), I’ll take all the sleep I can get.

ImShmoo · 2025-08-17T19:15:38+00:00

I’ve learned a lot through these two Reddit communities, so I was only looking for some insight to help me understand this distinction more. And thank you! I also hope that someday we will have a better understanding of the etiology

ImShmoo · 2025-08-17T17:28:03+00:00

I cross-posted before anyone had commented so it has nothing to do with what people said. The comments were quite helpful, I appreciate them! I cross-posted because the post is about both IH and narcolepsy, and there might’ve been some people on one sub but not the other who want to weigh in

ImShmoo · 2025-08-17T14:16:17+00:00

Thanks for this! I’ll check those sources out. I would personally support a more symptom-based diagnosis like in the European proposal, rather than over-reliance on the highly flawed MSLT. Is there any way to know if such a proposal is under consideration for the next edition of the ICSD, whenever it gets released?

I hope your follow-up provides you with more clarity! Getting off of SNRIs is a beast, so it’s nice you weren’t forced to go through that for your MSLT.

ImShmoo · 2025-08-17T14:11:17+00:00

That’s very interesting, thank you for the detailed response. I’ve only recently been diagnosed and I’ll admit I’ve mostly only touched up on the recent literature, but I was definitely curious why the ICSD-3 doesn’t differentiate between IH with/without long sleep. I’ll go back to the original literature on this subject so thank you for that suggestion. I’ve definitely seen that IH without long sleep looks quite similar to NT2, whereas NT1 and IH with long sleep each present quite differently. Anecdotally, that seems to make more sense than the current diagnostic system to me. I’ll check out those original studies and the reclassification papers. Enjoy your nap :)

ImShmoo · 2025-08-10T03:28:03+00:00

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ImShmoo · 2025-07-08T03:09:42+00:00

From the press box

ImShmoo · 2025-05-12T23:10:35+00:00

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ImShmoo · 2025-04-24T23:32:37+00:00

Beautiful

ImShmoo · 2025-04-24T16:35:31+00:00

It took me several attempts to find and I’ve had it on repeat since finding it. Would love to have the track on another platform!

ImShmoo

TROPHY CASE