Have you ever wanted to do something that numerous people have told you that you shouldn’t do, but you ignored them and did it anyway? Well, my decision to major in psychology was one of those things.

When I began studying psychology in my freshman year of college, I thought for sure that I wanted to be a therapist. I really liked the idea of being able to help someone give them advice. While being a therapist is an extremely important job and I admire people who are one, I realized I didn’t want to do that for a living. Although I do not want a job in the field of psychology in the future, I do not regret studying it for a second. Here’s why.

The brain is very complex. It is responsible for how we think, feel, and act. Through psychology, you learn about how the brain works and how it influences your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. As a result, you are better able to understand yourself in many ways, including your personality, thoughts, actions, and emotions. Being able to understand and explain different parts of yourself allows you to change them if you want to of course. Sometimes you can even strengthen the positives about yourself that you knew you already had. Believe it or not, welcoming psychology into your life can make you a better person if you let it.

Psychology encourages you to delve deeper into the innermost parts of yourself, and even sometimes others. It’s easy to judge someone based on how they feel or act, especially if you don’t know them personally. But you never know what is truly going on inside someone else’s head. Learning about how the brain works changes your perspective on the way people behave, express emotions, and voice their thoughts, which can make you a more understanding and less judgmental person. You also learn better ways to communicate with others, which can help change your personal relationships, how you behave and interact with others in your work environment and multiple other relationships. Knowing and changing the way you interact with others presents opportunities for you to have better relationships in the future.

Studying psychology also lessens the stigma surrounding mental illness. When someone is struggling with a mental illness, such as addiction, they are often labeled by it, resulting in negative attitudes toward it and even discrimination. People who struggle with mental illnesses are often seen as weak, leading them to be ashamed of their thoughts and feelings. This is something that has occurred for a long time, and even though it’s slightly improved, it still has a long way to go.

For me, before studying psychology I didn’t really understand what to think of people with mental illnesses, especially ones suffering from an addiction. Last year, I made the decision to take a class called Psychology of Addiction. Not only did the class teach me how to treat people with an addiction, but it also helped me understand what goes on in their minds. Once you get an idea of what is going on someone else’s mind, it changes the way you think about not only them but also the addiction or other mental problem itself. The most important thing I learned in that class is that people who suffer from an addiction, or even any other mental illness, can’t just stop or get better overnight. It is a process that requires help and support from others. And even though it is a very difficult process, it is important to be supportive of that person, especially because it could help lead to their road to recovery.

I truly believe that if more people study psychology, society can further learn how to treat, understand, and interact with others. It could also bring us even closer to eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness, which could a happier, and healthier society overall.