ocd and future careers…

I’m going to be in Grade 12 very soon- and i have to finalise some majors and unis im interested in… honestly i do love a lot of subjects but i also hate a lot of subjects 😄 im more of a math and physics person but geology is like so interesting to me and im good at it. So i thought- hm… geophysics? Like why not- it combines all of my major interests and its an applied math/physics field which i LOVE…. however. Okay for context- ocd and gad make me fearful of A LOT OF THINGS. One of those things being bugs, ticks, Lyme disease, all that fun stuff… and in the geophysics field- especially in university- there are definitely going to be moments where you HAVE to go off into the wilderness or somewhere remote even… that makes me hesitate because that sounds genuinely horrifying- like i just want to do physics and analyse seismic data and make maps 😭😭😭… but i looked back to some childhood photos of mine and i remembered how much i loved rocks and playing outside- i know those are pretty average kid interests- but i really loved collecting rocks and digging random holes 😭 i loved elementary school field trips to parks and rivers- it was relaxing and refreshing- and i realised the thing thats making me hesitant is not exactly fear- well yes- but because of ocd- and when i tell you i worry about bugs a lot i mean like i will JUMP and check for the next 20 minutes if there is a bug near me… but do yall think i should go for what im interested in despite the fact that it may be super scary and just face my fears and expose myself- or do you think there is no need to make my uni experience scary and just stay safe indoors? Also i should maybe mention even most indoor jobs in the geophysics field have some outdoor moments… also i think i can find cons in ALL jobs genuinely- i just dont know if certain cons are too severe for me to function-

tarantula ke...

Date posted: 7h

If you get therapy, ocd can be overcome. The biggest question is if your degree is a viable career path. If it checks out, see about erp therapy and go for it.

JS55555

Date posted: 7h

Go for it! If you don't, your comfort zone will shrink until you are cornered. I actually just got out of grade 12 and am moving to Los Angeles, even though that move will be far from my home and Kansas, and the drastic change in environment is sure to aggrivate my OCD. I love LA and have wanted to live there for a long time! Therefore I am going and my OCD can ...well I am not sure if can say that word here but you get the point. I have been to the NOCD support groups and older people often say that that they missed out on a bunch of things in their life because of OCD and that adds to the anguish a lot. Also slightly unrelated general advice about senior year is I strongly encourage you to make sure you take part in the senior year traditions like prom and related things. I did and I made some wonderful memories in the last year. But don't force yourself to enjoy it because that can become OCD. I would just really encourage you to go and just try to be present if that isn't already your plan.

avantika

Date posted: 7h

thank you so much! i think i will try it- i think with ocd- it makes things feel very definite yk? like in my mind right now the idea of choosing a major is like a life sentence- but i think i will try geophysics out... or something related. i hope you have a wonderful time in LA! and also thats so crazy bc i was fully planning on skipping every senior year tradition- to be honest ive never gone to any school dances or whatever they are- but thats mostly bc im not really the dancing or party kind... and also my school is kinda racist and im one of the few poc 💀 my friends do go though so maybe ill tryyyy to go to one this year... probably won't end up going but i will try 😭 thank you again.

JS55555

Date posted: 5h

@avantika No problem! Yeah so many people change their major even in college. I know that because I live in a college town and my mom works at the university, so I hear a lot of stories. I am still unsure of what I want to do and I changed what I wanted to do twice during senior year. I am going to be taking a gap year in California so I can get in state tuition as I do plan to live in los angeles indefinitely, and that way I can spend a year checking things out and seeing firsthand the different options. But the reason for that is because I am genuinely unsure of what I want to do. It sounds like deep down you really want to do this and that is the only thing that matters. I have known deep down for the last two years that I want to live in LA. My OCD has attacked that relentlessly, but I want to do it, so I am. I have been concerned that my symptoms will spike when I get there, but instead of backing out, I decided to go back to therapy and this time I am staying in therapy long term. And that's too bad about the racism. My school was actually pretty not racist for Kansas standards (at least from what I saw--I am a white male so I understand that I am a bit shielded from seeing stuff like that). But there were a few racist people. I would strongly recommend going. You could just hang out with your friends if you want. Honestly there are a bunch of different personalities at school dances. I do like parties but I don't drink or do drugs. It was honestly a night that I won't forget. It was such a stark contrast from the beginning of the year where I entered school with very severe OCD and it was just nice to be able to have good times by the end of the year.

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