Spin-Off: Mentally Unstable People with Advanced Degrees

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Eccentricity has always been tolerated, if not accepted, in academia. Think of the "mad scientist" or the "absent-minded professor." Extreme success in one part of your life seems to excuse other, less savory aspects of your life. There are plenty of crazy-ass people who have PhDs or other advanced degrees. The ivory tower, and especially once tenure is granted, is far more accepting of certain nonsense than the private sector.

I can't speak for everyone who has an advanced degree, but in my area, life sciences / biomedical sciences, very often people are quite normal when they enter grad school. The 'craziness' usually comes during grad work because of all the pressure and expectations associated with obtaining an advanced degree. Not just that, working in a life science / biomedical lab can be very stressful. And, dealing with your grad committee is no picnic either.

When working on an advanced degree, you don't have a normal life. You have to give up a lot - hobbies, activities, relationships, for the degree. Some people can handle the pressure, some can not.

As for the crazy prof, obtaining tenure can be just as stressful as grad school. Some universities have dealt with tenure by eliminating it, or not making such a big deal out of it. And, for those schools that still have a tenure system, maintaining tenure can be stressful also.

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

I can't speak for everyone who has an advanced degree, but in my area, life sciences / biomedical sciences, very often people are quite normal when they enter grad school. The 'craziness' usually comes during grad work because of all the pressure and expectations associated with obtaining an advanced degree. Not just that, working in a life science / biomedical lab can be very stressful. And, dealing with your grad committee is no picnic either.

When working on an advanced degree, you don't have a normal life. You have to give up a lot - hobbies, activities, relationships, for the degree. Some people can handle the pressure, some can not.

As for the crazy prof, obtaining tenure can be just as stressful as grad school. Some universities have dealt with tenure by eliminating it, or not making such a big deal out of it. And, for those schools that still have a tenure system, maintaining tenure can be stressful also.

A lot of signs of Schizophrenia appear in early adulthood, which would be consistent with College and Grad School. I think the additional pressures is often the catalyst for setting the illness into motion.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by Benzgirl

Dr. Tom was also a concert pianist and never married. he lived at home with his parents and doubt he had any friends. The biggest kicker was during a final. Since several of his classes were small, he held all of the finals at the same time in an auditorium. About 15 minutes into the final, he sat down at the piano and started playing Beethovan's 5th. I think more than a few of us were freaked out.

I normally don't actually "lol" but I just did. I'm just picturing what would happen had that happened in one of my classes. That's awesome. What did everyone do?

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I normally don't actually "lol" but I just did. I'm just picturing what would happen had that happened in one of my classes. That's awesome. What did everyone do?

A lot of jaws dropped, as did a few pencils. By that point in the quarter, we all knew how strange he was. Just the icing on the cake and something to talk about during the next quarter.

I just checked his CV. He is still teaching.

[Munchkin03]

Bump!