Half of Max Planck postdocs suffer from depression

Survey laments high rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms due to stress, particularly among mothers

Around half of the postdocs at Max Planck Institutes across Germany and abroad have reported suffering from mild depressive symptoms and anxiety.

A survey by the Max Planck Society’s postdoctoral network, PostdocNet, found that 55 per cent of postdocs have mild depression, and 48 per cent have anxiety. One in five respondents reported symptoms of moderate to severe clinical depression.