[PsychShock]

Hey guys, obviously I am brand new to this site and I was really hoping for someone other than my family and friends to reach out to.

I am a 22 year old who is commuting to an amazing STEM focused college. In August I just graduated with a degree in psychology from another close more liberal arts university, which I loved. When I decided that I wanted to be a psychiatrist and go to med school, I transferred as a degreed undergrad to the STEM college so that I could get the science credits and eventually take the MCAT.

However, since the summer I've been having a really hard time with my home life. My grandmother passed in July just before I got my degree, and though I was really devastated, I was handling it better than the majority of my family. I even volunteered to give the eulogy, which everyone seemed to like. I felt that it was a great way for me to cope with her passing, and I felt better about things afterward.

A few days before my grandmother passed my mom took a really bad fall and broke two of her lumbar vertebrae and suffered a skull fracture. To say the least she was emotionally and physically strained when we drove 6 hours to the funeral. She's had other health problems in the past, which includes: struggling with obesity, smoking, severe depression, anxiety, COPD, heart attacks, diabetes, vertigo, neuropathy and addiction to opioids.

My dad works as an administrative ER nurse on the night shift, so really the only times that he's around is when he's sleeping. Since my mom isn't working, and has all of these health problems, and now legally is not permitted to drive since her skull fracture, he asked me to move into their house at the very least to just be a pair of ears to hear her if she falls or has another heart attack.

Previously I was living in an apartment with my boyfriend, and we were getting financial help here and there from our parents. We've been together for a year and a half, but we were friends for three years before that so we're very close. But, now he lives with my family and we have the upstairs all to ourselves and between my school obligations and his work, we only get home around seven at night. But no one ever wants to talk so I awkwardly get pushed into the position of messenger girl because everyone is so uncommunicative. My boyfriend is also having depression issues due to his own family ( which sometimes even trumps my situation in emotional exhaustion), and just how damn poor we are. It was part of the reason that collectively we decided to invite him to live with us, and it would give my boyfriend and I a chance to save up more money before we move closer to my school. At least...that was the initial premise. Now we both just feel miserable all the time and hang out upstairs.

Since I missed taking all of these science courses when I was a Psych major, I've had to take Bio II, Chem I and Brain and Behavior for this semester.I haven't taken Chem since I was a sophomore in high school and I am totally bombing. I've gotten really behind on my course load because of all the crap that is going on. My depression is the worst that it's ever been, and because I procrastinated the first month of school when all these big changes were going on I fell behind, and now I'm just caught in an enormous snowball of schoolwork that I feel like I'll never get control of again.

I'm thinking about taking an incomplete in chemistry, but honestly I just don't know what to do. I just want to go back to being a normal student, living in an apartment, and going back to getting A's on all my assignments. I just went back to therapy at a new place that's super cheap and has psych grad students for counselors. I have my second appointment with them on Monday, but I'm starting to think that my circumstances are so weird and big that no one will be able to help me.

For anyone who has had a similar circumstance, I'd like to hear from you. Any advice is welcome so long as it's constructive.

[Travelinglady]

I haven't had your experiences, but I'm just letting you know that I care. You definitely have had a tough time. I find it helpful to talk to folks when I am upset, so I would probably go back to the student counselor.

Also, have you talked to your Chem prof? Maybe he/she could offer some advice.....