College Decisions & Career Decisions

[Stargazed.]

I have many decisions to make but I'm terrified to make them. I'm scared of my anxiety effecting my college education and I'm terrified of making the wrong career path choice and making my anxiety disorder sky rocket. I'm not even sure if I can be a psychologist given my history. Can I? I also have been thinking about becoming a writer. Is that something to be looking into for very anxious people? I also don't want to go out of state for college cause of my anxiety.. I'm not sure what to do. I need to make a decision before November...

[Kate*]

I think most people who want to be psychologists can be as long as their own disorders are properly managed to the point where they won't interfere with the job. Any career path you choose can be changed, I've heard that the average person changes careers 7 times in their lifetime, and don't forget all the college students who change their majors. So it wouldn't be the end of the world if you got into something, realized you hated it, and decided to do something else. As for being a writer, it probably isn't something good for people who can't take criticism, but I don't know about anxiety. If it's something you want to do, you should at least try it and see what happens. Do the best you can to manage the anxiety and realize that some of it is rational and expected and some of it is irrational. For example, it's normal to be anxious about college, but don't let it stop you from going to school out of state if you want to.

[Jaq]

Hi believe.in.hope:

I would recommend you put college on hold and just explore different career paths. Look for employment at a record label, a law office, in retail and anything else you are interested in. See if working in each of those environments helps you figure out what you want, and what you do not want to do.

I say this because many people do change their career paths many times in their life and it would not be good for you to invest so much money into a degree that you may never practice on the "field". Take into consideration the debt you will owe plus interest. I just want to save you time, money and stress down the road.