Mental Health RN, Social Worker or Counselor

[TurtleCat]

For someone interested in the field of mental health/psychology and helping those struggling from mental disorders and illness, abuse, trauma, addictions, etc. which route would you recommend?

See, I was initially interested in becoming a social worker or a counselor. However, after doing some research, I found out that social work and counseling takes more years of schooling and often the pay isn't as good as becoming an RN. With becoming an RN, I'd still have the option of working in psychiatry/mental health, plus there's more versatility and I could look into different fields/specialties if I desired. I'm just wondering if there's any advantages to social work/counseling over nursing that I haven't discovered yet.

Also, another career route I was considering which is something a little different altogether, is a medical lab tech. The job description really appeals to the nerd in me -- running lab tests, helping diagnose diseases, etc. However, I imagine it doesn't involve the direct patient care which is what attracts me to nursing. I kind of think of the lab tech as more of a back-up type deal in case nursing doesn't work out for whatever reason. Anyway, though, I'm still young, and trying to figure out exactly what I want to do in my life and what appeals to me the most. I think psychiatric RN is what I'm really interested in but I'm trying not to rule out other options as well.