TW: Death and family bereavement

My father was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer, just as I was completing my Health Psychology Masters, and just before I found out I had been successful in being awarded PhD funding. It is well known that doing a PhD can be challenging for mental health, but this diagnosis meant that things were going to be even harder for me. For the next five years, I experienced a mix of extremely stressful life experiences at the same time: undertaking a PhD, being a caregiver for Dad, his death, and the grief that followed. 

I hope that by sharing the good and the bad parts of my experience in this blog, including suggestions about how to make the process easier, it might help others get through the process of returning to their PhD and experience the joy that this finally brings. 

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