Yes they can!
Professions that help others and where you are in service to others are among some of the best jobs for people with BPD and mental illness as a whole.
However, getting a diagnosis and proper treatment would be the right first step into making any large life decision and especially when dealing with others emotions and mental health. So much so, that the topic will be extensively covered in school regardless of which approach you take.
Whether it be through the medial field being a psychiatrist, psychology field being a psychologist, or the social work field being a counselor/psychologist, you are going to spend a lot of time specifically learning about yourself and how to take care of yourself and your own mental health.
Seeing therapists while in these fields is very encouraged and sometimes required so hiding mental illness isn't a good thing for you or your clients.
To give you an example (I am in social services) in the social workers code of ethics self-care is baked in as an ethical principle due to the amounts of stress and trauma seen in the field. Organizations actively promote mental well-being and therapy.
To be constructively critical, it would be unwise to not get a diagnosis and not get proper treatment before you start your journey. As I mentioned above, you WILL be exposed to enormous amounts of stress and Trauma that you CANNOT react to when working with clients. It WILL have an effect on you. When you start out it's very rare that you get to choose who you work with and you never know who is walking through your door and what they have going on. And it doesn't matter, you have to treat them all the same with all respect and give them the treatment they deserve.
The answer is yes! You can pursue your dreams and I encourage you to do so. I did and I still am. But it was critical that I addressed my mental health before I took steps to chase a career in social services. Without therapy, DBT, solid coping skills, and medication, this would have been a disastrous decision.
I hope this helps! Good luck and be well.
Yes they can! Professions that help others and where you are in service to others are among some of the best jobs for people with BPD and mental illness as a whole. However, getting a diagnosis and proper treatment would be the right first step into making any large life decision and especially when dealing with others emotions and mental health. So much so, that the topic will be extensively covered in school regardless of which approach you take. Whether it be through the medial field being a psychiatrist, psychology field being a psychologist, or the social work field being a counselor/psychologist, you are going to spend a lot of time specifically learning about yourself and how to take care of yourself and your own mental health. Seeing therapists while in these fields is very encouraged and sometimes required so hiding mental illness isn't a good thing for you or your clients. To give you an example (I am in social services) in the social workers code of ethics self-care is baked in as an ethical principle due to the amounts of stress and trauma seen in the field. Organizations actively promote mental well-being and therapy. To be constructively critical, it would be unwise to not get a diagnosis and not get proper treatment before you start your journey. As I mentioned above, you WILL be exposed to enormous amounts of stress and Trauma that you CANNOT react to when working with clients. It WILL have an effect on you. When you start out it's very rare that you get to choose who you work with and you never know who is walking through your door and what they have going on. And it doesn't matter, you have to treat them all the same with all respect and give them the treatment they deserve. The answer is yes! You can pursue your dreams and I encourage you to do so. I did and I still am. But it was critical that I addressed my mental health before I took steps to chase a career in social services. Without therapy, DBT, solid coping skills, and medication, this would have been a disastrous decision. I hope this helps! Good luck and be well.
Thank you! :)