How do I overcome depression and grief?

Hello Michelle,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out. You ask a wonderful question. First, I am sorry to hear about your father's death. You have a great deal on your plate right now. You are torn between caring for your mom, having a professional career, as well as your personal life. If you and I were working together in therapy, I would encourage you to work to organize these various parts of your life. You mentioned that you had a strained relationship with your dad. I would want to know more about what that means to you. It is common for someone to have mixed feelings about the death of a loved one whom they had a strained relationship with in life. Know that there are no wrong feelings in this. All the feelings you are experiencing are normal.

Be patient and kind to yourself and know that it will take some time for things to get back to a sense of normalcy in your daily life. You are in the very early stages of grief. 

You may also have a lot of feelings about the situation with your dad. There will be grief and sadness. You might also feel angered by him not leaving mom with appropriate financial resources. She is also grieving and you likely feel unable to help her with that pain. 

Remind yourself that a death is not something that you just get over. It is something that you get through, but dad's loss will always be a part of your life story now. Find things that you enjoy doing, nurture yourself. I would encourage you to talk about the loss to someone, perhaps a therapist. Encourage mom to do the same. Count every win, each and every day. Each day that you get up, go to work, clean the house, attend to chores, go shopping, etc, is a win. Find distractions, do things that make you feel happy. Go out with friends, go to the movies, take a walk, journal, find new recipes to try.

I hope that you have found this information helpful and I wish you all the best moving forward on your journey.