Overcoming isolation

​When I did my PhD, I remember how excited I felt when I found a book called ‘How to get a PhD’. I have long since lost my copy and forgotten almost everything in it. Apart from one thing: the section on isolation.
 
I’d never thought of it this way before, but this section resonated with me immediately. Family and friends didn’t seem to understand my research or the lifestyle around it. Meanwhile, talking to colleagues about my doubts or fears seemed off limits.  Everyone else appeared to have it all ‘under control’ and no-one discussed such things. As the failed experiments piled up, and my thoughts of what I could achieve got scaled down, this felt increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, here was a book that talked my language!

​A lot of time has passed. Today, we have social media, other excellent books and courses, graduate programmes, and mentoring initiatives. But isolation remains an issue.
 
I’ve often felt isolated as a PI too. This seems paradoxical because a PI’s job involves far more people interaction than working at the bench does. But feeling understood can be further away than ever.
 
Staring at a grant rejection email, knowing I have to break the bad news to my group, is a very lonely place to be.  Figuring out how to handle a challenging workplace conversation, when confidentiality prevents me discussing it with colleagues feels like there is nowhere to turn.
 
In the context of a world with a crisis of isolation outside science too, how can we handle this better? And what can we do to support others?

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