I'm just starting my 2nd year doing a BHSc Occupational Therapy degree and I absolutely hate it. I don't want to be an o.t. The only reason I started the degree is because my parents are both professionals (clinical psychologist, GP) and both acted really passive/aggressively dissapointed in me when I first said I didn't know what to do at college and decided to just work for a while instead. So I jumped in and it was a huge mistake.

I feel stuck and trapped, if I say I want out I already have $13,000 of a student loan to pay back, and no plans whatsoever for a future. I just don't know what I want to be, I have no idea. I will disappoint them a lot if I say I want to drop out, and I will be seen as a failure by everyone around me.

I already have suffered/am still in the process of recovery from anorexia nervosa, depression, sleeping disorder, possible BPD (too young to be oficially diagnosed with a personality disorder apparently), but I do present myself very well. People who don't know me wouldn't have a clue about any of the things I battle in my head each day.

What am I supposed to do? Disappoint my parents or continue this degree hating my life more each day? I feel myself slipping into my old ways. I want to make myself sick so I don't have to deal with this anymore. I have nobody to talk to (only live with my mum, she's working 24/7, no siblings, no friends). Please help me make a decision.

1. many young people change majors two or three times before they graduate.

2. after age 40, few people are working in the same field as their degree.

So if you know what you want to do, change your major,
If you don't, go you get this degree and may have to go back for a few classes to get ready for something else.

Often unless you are going for a specific profession, a CPA, medical school, or the such, often even for things like law school, the exact degree does not make a lot of difference.

It's not unusual for someone to be in college and not be sure what to major in and what to do after graduation. My son graduated from college and didn't figure out a career until he was 30 or so. Years ago, I hated college but got a bachelor's in one thing and ended up with a career in something distantly related but quite a bit different -- and then went to grad school at the age of 43 to give myself even more options.

I say bite the bullet and get the OT degree. That won't be the only thing you can do. It's a base to build on. (If you want to know what else you can do, ask me.) And you can always defer your loans and go to grad school for something you think will be a better fit for you. (Ask me about that too, if you want.)

Are you getting help for the mental and emotional problems?

First of all, you are not to young to be diagnosed with BPD and I was disgnosed with it at 18.

Why do you hate o.t? Is it because you feel your parents talked you into it? Is there something else you would rather do? Do you have a back-up plan on another area of interest? If you don't then stay where you are. This job will be better than ending up being a clerk at Wal-mart. If you don't have a back-up plan just stick with this because it is a good career, focus on the fact that you are helping people. After while you can have your own practice and provide a very nice life for yourself. It seems to me like these disorders and fogging you up and making you miserable, o.t. or not. I would see a therapist though to help you sort out these disorders and figure out what is making this so hard for you.