Hi,

I'm in my 2nd year of a PhD if that's any good? I'm extremely lucky though as, because my doctoral thesis involves research in to mental illness, I managed to get a supervisor who is a Co-Director of a mental health research centre and my second supervisor is a Professor of Psychiatry, so they are very understanding when I take time off/email them at strange hours in the morning with bizarre requests. They're both aware of my illness but we don't really discuss it... that's between my pdoc and I.

Last week I told them that I'm considering quitting my studies to work for the local council as a Housing Officer so I can help homeless people. They're both on annual leave but they still took the time to reply, advising me not to make any decisions until after our next meeting. I doubt any other employers would react so well!

I think I may have gone off on a tangent, sorry. But I think that the point I was trying to make was that it all depends on who your employer is.

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