<p>I want to major in mechanical engineering, but I'm unsure I can do it because of my severe mental illness. My illness makes stress in my life more stressful. I've heard that engineering is incredibly stressful and even though I'm stable I worry that it'd just send me into a meltdown. I like math (I am going to start precalculus next semester, got a A's in college algeba and all high school level math classes), but I'm not sure about physics.</p>
<p>I guess my question is if engineering is truly as terrifying and stressful as everyone makes it out to be?</p>
<p>Life can be somewhat steady, or it can be a roller coaster, full of starts and stops and jolts and glides. Work that is process-based, where a steady flow of input comes in and a steady flow goes out, can have its stresses and anxieties. A different type of stress and anxiety comes from project-based work, where the project is ill defined, gathers momentum, changes course, and then is compressed towards the end. For many projects, the next project is uncertain, and depends on the current project.</p>
<p>So, in that way, with the pace being uneven and a bit uncertain, project-based careers (such as many engineering and other creative endeavors) can be more unnerving. Is it terrifying? I would say it is thrilling. Some people like roller coasters- some avoid them. Some understand the rhythm and cadence of roller coasters and are nonplussed.</p>
<p>In the end any profession is what you make of it. You can find a place for your personality in any profession. The example above is exaggeration to demonstrate a difference between engineering and a more process- or flow-driven profession. You will be fine if you love it.</p>
<p>The key to avoiding stress, in any endeavor, is to be organized, make and keep to a schedule, etc. This is particularly true for engineering classes in college as well as a professional career as an engineer. You can mostly control your college experience but many factors can influence your professional career. You would just need to find a company environment that is as organized as possible.</p>
<p>The flip side to your question would be; What profession would interest you that wouldn’t involve stress? I can’t think of any that I would have considered.</p>
<p>Everything here is good advice, and you should follow it. But yes, engineering is very stressful no matter how hard you work, and no matter how smart you are. It’s a very tedious set of majors, and sometimes things just won’t make sense no matter how hard you try. If you just can’t deal with that, you probably can’t get through engineering.</p>
<p>But I’ve heard there are some pretty good medications for stress these days. You will probably need some if you have an illness.</p>
<p>@Itsjustschool Thanks for the advice and encouragement! @Hpuck35 Thanks for your advice. That’s the problem, I want to do mechanical engineering. I haven’t found any other major that is viable in a practical sense, interests me, and keeps my standards of a college degree.
@NeoDymium Well thanks for the honesty. Oh and I’ve been heavily medicated since age 9, but I haven’t been on many anti-anxiety drugs.</p>
<p>One thing that has honestly helped me this semester with doing well in my engineering classes is getting involved in study groups. My statics and thermodynamics classes consist of students who either got the concepts when taught in the lecture, and those who just needed to start working on hw problems to begin grasping them. All of us could understand each other’s weaknesses, and if we all truly got stumped by a concept, we were never shy to make good use of the professors’ office hours. Networking in engineering is a primary key in not only successfully obtaining an engineering degree, but also to get a job in the field and to perform the required tasks that your company may have you do.</p>