Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

3 Causes of Dissertation Stress

9 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:35

In this brief YouTube monologue, Dr. Steve Tippins explains that dissertation stress is rarely caused by the sheer amount of work, but rather by three psychological factors: isolation (working alone without guidance), fear (worrying about failure after heavy investment), and uncertainty (lack of clear instructions on how to proceed). He encourages viewers to be kind to themselves, likening the learning curve to playing tennis for the first time, and recommends a micro‑step writing approach—writing one paragraph at a time instead of attempting large blocks. The speaker concludes with a call to action, inviting listeners to join a free dissertation help community for additional support.

Chapters

Dissertation. Stress is not what you think it is. Stress rarely comes from workload itself. Instead, it comes from three things. Isolation, fear, and uncertainty. Isolation. Doing things alone, without any guidance. Fear. I've invested so much. What if I fail? Uncertainty. No one told me how to actually do this. But you are doing this for the first time. Be kind to yourself. The first time you played tennis, you didn't hit every ball. Stop trying to write 40 pages in one sitting. Write one paragraph and then another. Success is about showing up every single day. Comment. Help and we will send you the link to our free dissertation help community. You've got this.