Being a developer or learning to become one takes time and consistent practice, and can be frustrating and overwhelming. as a developer, you never stop learning and that's common knowledge in this environment.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, act, respond to stress and even within the decisions we make and how we make them. With the nature of work developers do, it is easy to have mental health disorders because of the pressure and demands of this field.

Your mental health is an absolutely important aspect of your life and therefore has to be safeguarded and treated with utmost priority. It is important at every stage Of life and maintaining positive mental health can go a long way to help you realize your full potential as a developer. However, as a developer, you would often have self-doubts and question your abilities. Imposter syndrome happens to most of us, whether you are an experienced intermediary entry-level or even a newbie in tech.

I started learning to code in the latter parts of 2019 as an accounting grad transitioning into tech. It has been a slow process for me. I prefer to take my time to learn the concepts of every tech or program I am learning. A few weeks ago, I fell into an emotional pit, and truly, it is what has inspired me to write this today. I often question my abilities, and I always keep asking myself if I would be good enough to finally land a job in tech like I have always imagined. Would I be a good developer and problem solver? Would I be able to make any impact through tech as I have always told myself I was going to do? These questions kept ringing through my mind, and the truth is I don't have an answer to these questions. Opening up and talking to a few people I trusted helped me drag myself out of that emotional trauma. Before opening up to these people, I couldn't sleep well or even eat well. I fell behind on my programming tutorials, and inconsistency set in. The longer I stayed away, the more difficult it became for me to reach my goal of becoming a developer. Opening up to a few loved ones reminded me why I chose to become a developer, and I was reassured that they were going to support me all the way through.

It is ok to be scared sometimes, it only makes you human. It gets lonely, life in itself gets lonely, and that's why it's necessary to surround yourself with people who value you and your presence and love you for who you are.

Being a developer can be cool and fun, it can also be stressful. Self-doubt would set in one way or the other, we just don't have to hesitate to ask for help. It's a very important and normal thing to do. We don't have to feel like we have to do everything on our own, remember this song "we all need somebody to lean on". Even the programming languages we work with have frameworks and shortcuts to help and reduce our workload.

In the course of my emotional mangle and self-doubts, I voiced out to a few friends and told them I don't think I would ever be good enough in this programming path I have chosen to thread. A response from one of them struck some sort of adrenaline within me to keep going. His exact words "no one is born a programmer and therefore you can never be good enough. You are a programmer to make your impact and not be good enough".

As a developer, you are always required to learn new skills and be dynamic enough to adapt to whatever changes occur in your line of duty. It can be very overwhelming and demanding. Being a developer also means you spend most of your time behind screens trying to solve problems and therefore less time for socializing. Having imposter syndrome can get in when you get overwhelmed, and it's perfectly fine.

It's ok to have self-doubts and feel like you would never be good enough. Always remember the reason you chose this part. Look back on your journey and see the progress you have made. Do not ever give up on yourself. It's ok to be tired but never give up. You gave up on mediocrity the day you chose this path, don't go back to it. You should take time off when you get overwhelmed, and focus on yourself, spend time with family, friends, and loved ones, and experience all the love they give. Nothing is reassuring than knowing the people we love are right behind us cheering us on and riding for us in full support. You should see a specialist if need be.

Do your best to always maintain a positive mental health. In all you do, have fun and enjoy life with the people you love because tomorrow is never promised. Life in itself is too short

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