Advisor's Negativity How do you deal with the constant flow negativity from an advisor? Examples:


How worthless I am, how I am the worst student he ever had. Absolutely good for nothing. 
Whatever I am doing is meaningless, trivial, or pointless.
I never did/can-do anything correct. 
I just don't have the potential, and there is just no scope for growth. Maybe in some other universe, I might have excelled, but not in this one. 
The fact that I chose the wrong career; instead, I should do something more simple and enjoy life for a change.
I should just quit my program.
He won't embarrass himself by writing a letter for me in the future.


What do you do when you start to believe in all of his statements, and they start to become self-fulfilling prophecies. Especially how worthless I am...
I can't judge whether the advisor is making a correct evaluation and being a jerk about it, or just being a jerk. 

But, at a minimum, you need a different advisor. It should be someone who has some faith in you and encourages your best work. Staying where you are, under this advisor, is unlikely to result in success. 

But you have to evaluate your own position and whether any of the statements have any validity. If they have some, then what can you do to improve the situation? If they have some validity, then what is the cause of it? Lack of preparation? Poor work process? Undiagnosed illness? There are lots of possibilities. 

In the worst case, you may need to abandon your program, at least for a while, but no one here has the perspective to recommend that. 

And, not that it helps, perhaps your advisor just doesn't belong in any advising situation. You probably have little chance of fixing that problem.