hello survivor. welcome to ds. sorry for what brings you here but glad you are here.

gentle empathy the difficulty of social work. i'm not a social worker but active volunteer work has been one of my recovery tools. social services was rough work in 2019. it has been flushed down toilet in the covidic madness. in march 2020, i was new to the foster care system with three young orphans in protective custody. and my heart is breaking for all the young lives being marginalized in the covidic social distances. just mask it all. . .

steadying support while you figure where to go from here. you are not alone.

thank you
yeh the covic madness is not helpin it all...

Welcome to the board..... I'm sorry that you're struggling right now..... Big hug of peace while you sort things out.... xo

I am a licensed social worker who is retired. It’s a hard profession and low paid. I saw a study one time that a lot of social workers come out of their past problems or to help others. Meaning many start with a history of mental health problems and then about double that end up with mental health problems after 5 years on the job. It’s mostly a job pushing paperwork at this point but it used to be different. Personally, I think SW is only doable if one has good mental, maturity, good communication skills, ability to handle high stress, and emotional wellness. I have noticed that many SW jobs are punitive about sick leave and vacation and they discriminate against hiring anyone who can’t physically work on their feet long hours, or have physical or mental impairments. I worked in a hospital where we didn’t have coverage when we needed one day off for things like dental appointments or going to doctor. Or the flu. This was impossible for me as no one took over your caseload when you weren’t there. You see in job descriptions such things as must be able to stand for 4 hours or use a computer without any visual magnification or must drive for an office job. The degree of social work is bachelor and masters, the better jobs require a masters and state licensure. It’s a very hard degree with the long unpaid internships required, the research classes, the APA style researched papers. My MSW was harder than my kids’ teaching masters or research masters. And then most social work jobs are under paid and over worked. It sounds like you are finding school difficult, or is it the job? I’m sorry I sound down on the career, I’ve had decent social work jobs and terrible ones and I retired early due to health problems where I can’t do all the walking/standing required and I need to keep doctors appointments and not be punished at work for using vacation or sickle leave. So I might say, reconsider your expectations of a social work career and maybe be a dental hygienist or nurse or teacher or accountant. My friend is a CPA and finds it low stress except for the time crunch during spring tax season.

I totally switched fields at midlife, SurvivorOftheDemon, and though it meant I had to start over as to seniority and retired without hitting the top level of promotions in my second career, I'm really glad I did it. Sending you support as you figure this out.

Hi, Survivor, hoping you find some quiet time to calm your mind. Your answer will come. Sending you a supportive hug.

I think all helping fields are difficult and require a great deal of self-care to continue on in them in a healthy way. But when money and time are tight, that presents challenges too. I'm sorry. Making a career change takes time too. But, you can do it if you want to!! There is most likely something really terrific around the corner for you. You just can't see it yet:)

Welcome Survivor!!!