Academic Institutionalization Syndrome

I've decided to coin the term "academic institutionalization syndrome" (or AIS) to refer to the deficits or problems in social and life skills that graduate students face upon completing their graduate school careers and trying to be a part of the real-world.

Graduate students who have completed their PhD and defended their dissertations tend to experience AIS as a six stage post-graduate school symptom progression which often leads to a return to an academic institution for post-doctoral training. This occurs because new PhDs are definitely not qualified for social services and the ability for them to secure gainful employment is limited.

• Stage 1 of AIS is identified by helplessness and hopelessness stemming from an inability to find a way to reenter non-academic society. This is typically complicated by over-specialization and over-qualification, which reduces the sufferers ability to find a job;
• Stage 2 involves intense immobilizing fear about what can be done next;
• Stage 3 involves anger and rage, as well as delusions about going back to school to obtain additional degrees. In this stage, flashbacks of graduate school and other symptoms of PDSD occur;
• Stage 4 is marked by a tendency to regress to pre-graduate school behaviors (e.g., binge drinking, WoW addiction);
• Stage 5 involves isolation which increases socially-isolated behaviors (e.g., social networking), but reduces the chances of getting in trouble (e.g., DUI);
• Stage 6 includes intensification of dissertation flashbacks, an increase in research ideas, increased grant writing efficacy. These behaviors set the stage for a return to academia as a post-doctoral researcher or entry into prison, depending on how things go.

The symptoms of this syndrome, which I will address in more detail in a later post, are very similar to post-incarceration syndrome and involve:
1. Academically Institutionalized Personality Traits
2. Post Dissertation Stress Disorder (PDSD)
3. Antisocial Personality Traits
4. Social Networking Disorder
5. Reactive Restriction of Activity Disorder
As a psychologist, I most often prefer cold hard statistics to anecdotal evidence. However, as a person suffering from AIS, I know that it is a real thing requiring additional research and a treatment plan. In fact, maybe I could write a research grant and get funded to study it. Then, I can certainly get into one of those post-doc positions in San Diego... Riverside... I've got to go...