Is psychology a good option for me?

Hello guys, I am 18years old, I recently found out I could do a psychology degree in uni but I need to do 2 other courses to be eligible, I have gone through a lot of depression and anxiety, antisocial behaviour in the past few years and even suicidal thoughts. Once I went on the meds, I'm on them now for about 1,5 years, I realized how much more I appreciate the world, and how terrible it can be to have declining mental health, and I realize I want to help people who might be in the same situation as me, so I'm thinking about doing a psychology degree and possibly a career related to psychology, I do have a plan b ofcourse, but do you think it's a good idea for a guy who's on meds feels, fine and been through all this **** to do psychology? Thank you in advance for your opinions
Answers

Onlooker

It would be good for others and good for you. Many people with your kind of story go in to psychology because they know it works, they have life education, they have a heightened sense if empathy (from developing empathy for themselves), and they have a thirst to learn more.

Larry K.

I think it's an excellent idea. I've gone through pretty much the same experience you have except in my case I had to suffer for years because there were no medications to treat mental disorders. in addition, since I'm manic/depressive, I appeared normal half of the time. I went to a number of psychiatrists and psychologists and found all but one of them pretty awful. I also suspect that many of them had mental problems of their own and that that was one of the reasons they entered the field of mental health. I cannot stress enough how advantageous it is to have experienced many of the problems that your patients will have. It's next to impossible for a normal person to understand on a subjective level what people with mental illness endure. A normal person trained in these diseases can analyze objectively what the problem is, but they haven't a clue nor can they experience real empathy if they haven't gone through the same thing. I suspect that's why Alcoholics Anonymous works. An alcoholic can understand alcoholism better than any erudite analysis based only upon facts. It's well that you have an alternative plan if you find this path unsatisfying, but if you find it fulfilling you could literally save lives. Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best!

Mars Mission

Brilliant decision go for it! Jolly well done! Thanks Very Best Wishes Mars Source:) Personal views cited.