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I think I doubt myself and my career, that I think people doubt me too.

owoContributor09 Apr 2026, 11:52 pm AEST

I think I doubt myself and my career, that I think people doubt me too.

I have been feeling all of the negative thoughts about my career for almost a decade of being out of high school. Negative thoughts about feeling unsure with what to do with my career, lost, sad, not very hopeful, and scared. I’ve had many experiences of my mental illness, that I want to get into the mental health field because I have my own lived experiences. I thought I’d want to foster hope through my experiences when needed and let people know they’re not alone by providing a supportive space for people to feel safe in. I’ve tried a few courses to get my career started, I have studied a Certificate IV in Mental Health, but I couldn’t really find jobs in that field. I have tried to study nursing because I wanted to get into Mental Health nursing, but my doubts got to me and I couldn’t complete it. Now, heres the thing, I was inspired by my friend and my nurses and her student nurses to study nursing. I was inspired by their passion for nursing. My friends keep saying things that make me doubt myself. Such as, “Oh theres 800 hours of placement.” and “Theres so much pressure to take initiative for doing tasks.” or “Are you comfortable with doing night shifts unpaid from 10pm-6am” etc. and it make me think, am I even made out for this? Even the social media posts I’d see online would make me doubt myself career, thoughts such as, “What if I gave the wrong dosage to the patient” and “Burnout is so real in nursing, top 10 reasons why you shouldn’t pursue this career” and it’s just noise that makes me feel so doubtful.
So I decided, I wanted to study social work. I wanted to give it a try. I told my friends and their immediate question was, “If someone mentioned abuse to you, would you feel comfortable talking about that?” and “If someone asked that in an interview, how would you respond?” and it made me feel like they’re doubting me or questioning my thoughts on trying a course 😞

I’d like help please, because I’m not sure which type of mental health work i’d like to do.

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In response to: I think I doubt myself and my career, that I think people doubt me too.

MatchaToadPeer Guide10 Apr 2026, 8:11 am AEST

Re: I think I doubt myself and my career, that I think people doubt me too.

Hey @owo

I wanted to take the time to thank you for being so open about where you're at. It takes so much courage to admit that you're feeling lost and scared, especially when you've been carrying those feelings for a while 💚

It sounds like you have a very clear "why": you want to turn your own experiences with mental health struggles into a light for others. That is such a beautiful and powerful goal. The "how" is the part that is feeling messy right now, and that's okay; we don't have to have it all figured out in a day.

It sounds like your friends might think they are being helpful by giving you a "reality check," but instead, they're just feeding your existing doubts. There is a big difference between being prepared for a challenge and being discouraged from even trying.

Nursing is one of the hardest degrees out there, and it is so okay that it wasn' the right fit at that time. And just on social work, yes it is involves talking about difficult topics that can be confronting, but no one expects you to know how to do that before you've even done the degree. That's what the education and training are for!

Since you're unsure of which path to take, it might help to look at the overall vibe of the work rather than just the title alone.

Social Work focuses heavily on the person in their environment, housing, justice, advocacy, and clinical support. It's perfect if you want to switch systems and help people.
Peer Support Work: since you already have a Cert IV in Mental Health, you might look specifically for "lived experience" or "peer support" roles. These roles value your history as a primary qualification, but having that Cert IV in Mental Health would be highly valuable.
Counselling: often more focused on the one-on-one therapeutic relationship, without the heavy medical/clinical requirements of nursing. Although I believe you need to undertake a counselling qualification.

When people ask you those "would you be comfortable with ...) questions, you are allowed to say "I'm still learning and exploring. I don't have all the answers yet, but I'm passionate about finding a way to help."

As I said, you don't have to have it all figured out in one day or by next week. You've already shown so much resilience by continuing to look for ways to give back despite the hard years you've had. That resilience is exactly what will make you a great mental health worker one day 💚

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