Has anyone here tried temping?

I am three weeks away from completing my BA in psychology . I lost my job three years ago. It was a pretty hellish experience - the bosses wanted to hire someone with more technical know-how and basically made my life miserable trying to get me to leave. I fell into a deep depression and was suicidal for a long time. The only thing I could get hired on to do was fast food, and I've been there for three years deciding what direction I want to go in and completing my degree. I was originally going to get my masters in counseling, because I really love psychology and that's basically all you can do with it. But I finally had to admit to myself that I really don't like most people, don't want to work with them all day, and really couldn't give a rat's butt about helping them. So now I've signed up for some medical coding and health informatics classes, so I can work with computers and files all day instead of people. The HI stuff is going to take a while to get me anywhere but I'm really burnt out on the fast food. I've been sending out resumes to get a reception or admin assistant job while I pursue the medical stuff but it isn't getting me anywhere when hundreds of people are probably applying along with me. The fast food is a really bad environment for me - it's stressful, makes me feel like I'm going to collapse in a panic attack, and I have to take anxiety medication to walk in the door. I've been playing around with the idea of talking with some temping agencies in the area, but that makes me anxious as well. I don't know what to expect or how my life would be if I quit my steady (but crappy) job and waited for the temp agency to call. What if I get a position for a couple of months and then nothing? Has anyone here done the temp thing, and would you recommend it?

I've never done the temping thing for more than a few days, and that was about 15 years ago, but I can offer you some advice for going into HI - take some database courses in Microsoft Access, SQL, or other database technologies. If you're not strong in other office applications such as spreadsheets and word processing, acquire skills in those too. Most HI positions are looking for technical more than health care skills, and I say this as someone looking for HI work who has a decade in health care and an advanced degree in a related field. I think taking courses in coding is a good plan - get familiar with the changes coming up with ICD-10 and with meaningful use. Just my two cents!

I already have an AS in computer information technology. I'm proficient with databases and ms office. I was working on completing a BS in website management, but found out I hated programing :/ . I can pretty much do anything with a computer but program and I've had admin / reception jobs in the past, which is why it's been such a kick in the nards to get zero response on my resumes.

I signed up with Kelly services, way back in the day, looking for my first job.
They took three weeks to get back to me, and so in the meantime I had been filling out applications everywhere else and had already been hired and was about to get my first paycheck. At McD's. I had decided I'd rather do hard work in a polo shirt than wear a skirt and sit all day. But I was 16, I drive a desk now.
I haven't known all that many people that used temp agencies, but it sounds like you have to sort of build a reputation for reliability by taking any shit job they throw at you and never call in sick. Starts out sporadic, but you can get placed pretty decently after you'd been at it for a while.
But for that degree of working your way up, I highly recommend taking any entry level job with a union you can find. Because then you have regularly scheduled pay raises and it gets much better really fast after the first year. Get your toe in the door and take all the educational courses they will offer you to work your way up a few levels.

Good luck!