An (interesting) thought occurred to me on the way to my office today.
more so, it occurred when i ran into one of the other TAs in the elevator(another sign of americanization-not saying lift!).

it seems to me that when one is in a PhD program, there are distinct stages, and irrespective of what area one might be working in, one can identify(diagnose is a better word) which stage they are currently residing in.
Of course, i am not saying anything new or anything that does not feature quite brilliantly in 'Piled higher and deeper' but here are my 2 cents.
the actual problem is that a phd is a real commitment - far more serious than anything one might have indulged in for a while. and as the extent of seriousness begins to sink in, the personality of the person slowly transforms, with some obvious visible changes.

the first real sign that a phd student has that feeling of getting into quagmire can be experienced by just posing the casual question, "How are you?"
a normal person would give a nonchalant answer or sometimes even an automated response - ranging from 'ok', 'fine','good','great' or by simply ignoring the question and then moving onto the next topic of discussion(if there need be one).
The interlocuter, or the investigator(if one might call them that) takes no offense with the kind of answer given, including the non-response since the question is more akin to a singer clearing his/her throat before taking off - that is obviously not part of the main course.
But to a phd student in his mid - phd crisis(and there is always one-i have noticed this by talking/observing lots of specimens in various phd programs) this question is as serious as any other. and the worst thing is - he/she doesn't know the answer!
take time to notice the response to this question from a phd student(i am not exempt from this - in fact i was my first specimen under the microscope). usually the person goes into some thought indulging himself (i say 'him' merely because my identifiability is more; female reactions might be just as exact and i am not excluding them by any means) in the following manner:

what form must your answer take? the truth? or the usual inane one-liner? being in a phd program of course puts you so to speak on the path of unravelling the truth. and usually the truth regarding this question is that you have lost any feeling, so to give an answer to that question is not really within your area of expertise. and to falsify an answer to a question as simple as this would be ironic to the whole agenda of being a 'truth-finder', something you think is what a researcher is......

and this indecision is clearly visible in the few moments of wildly staring at the ceiling, or the floor, or anything in between before he usually compromises to one of, 'uh huh', 'hmm...', 'well,.....', or the best of the lot,'....,'so-so...(sometimes followed by) i think'.

as i said, this post was inspired by my morning conv. it roughly went like this. i usually take the backstairs from the TA mailroom and then climb up one floor before heading back to the elevator (why i do this i don't know!). This guy met me in the TA mailroom, and then we again met in the elevator on the second floor (he of course, walked to the elevator on the ground level itself, something normal people do). After getting into the elevator and savoring our 'different' paths, the conv. went thus:

He: "..so, how are you?"
Me: " uh?"
He: "I said how are you?"
Me: "...uh..(staring at the floor for a while, then finally shrugging my shoulders and i think, smiling).. ok..just the usual.."

Then i returned the same.
Me: " so how about you?"
He: "......."
and then he got off the elevator.