Understanding suicidality and reasons for living amongst Doctoral Researchers: a thematic analysis of qualitative U-DOC survey data

Evidence regarding the mental health of doctoral researchers (DRs) is very limited; that which exists suggests DRs are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties during their PhD. Despite the associated jeopardy, however, to our knowledge there are no data published nor in the grey literature, reporting on suicidality amongst DRs. Using an online survey, we invited UK DRs to complete the Suicide Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised and qualitatively describe their experience of suicidality and its association with their PhD studies. A total of 1,263 DRs provided these data, with 40% of these participants meeting Suicide Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised criteria for being at high risk of suicide. Within the qualitative data, we identified three higher-order themes: (a) lived experience of suicidality; (b) PhD: the good, the bad, the ugly; and (c) life outside the PhD. Our findings suggest that suicidality is a common, yet complex and nuanced, experience amongst doctoral researchers. Identifiable elements of the PhD and personal lives can increase or protect against suicidality. The risk and protective factors identified here require verification using quantitative methods, but still support the immediate need for universities to respond to the risk of suicidality amongst their DRs.