I (20f) feel empty after doing everything for everyone.
Maybe it's because my period is coming, but I feel completely out of energy. It's the second day I've woken up without wanting to get up. My head hurts so much when I try to do anything... Today I wasn't even able to do half of what I planned (which was basically sweeping the floor) And when I start and can't finish.
I'm in a bad moment, my mother (60f) died two months ago after a hard 14 months of suffering .She had a degenerative disease and she couldn't move, half the time she was in bed and in the hospital. I took care of her basically alone, even with a lot of help from my husband (22m), most of the things I had to do, like helping her bathe and change her diaper, for obvious reasons, he couldn't help me with.
In addition to my mother, I was taking care of my 86 year old grandmother... Looking back, for some reason none of her 4 children could take her to live with them. I was taking care of my mother with a rare disease and incurable and my granny. Even though they couldn't take care of my grandmother or come here to help with something, they had time to judge me, say that I needed a job, say that I need to pay the house bills because they couldn't help me financially anymore and invalidate me every day by doubting that I was taking care of my mother the right way. When my husband came to live with me they, but especially my aunt, doubted his character and intentions, and after that he was taking my focus away from my mother and away from my purpose.
After my mother died, my aunt (59f) took my grandmother out of here, claiming that the atmosphere in the house was too heavy for her (because my mother died here). Which doesn't make sense because I was overwhelmed taking care of both of them, but for some reason she only brought my grandmother to live with her after my mother died. I honestly felt like having daughter, and being a mother of two adults at 19 years old and I feel like this task would never be dedicated to my male cousins the same age as me. Every time my aunt visited me she complained about how dirty the house was and how I wasn't capable of doing what my aunt did when she was 12. I feel like she emotionally manipulated me into doing chores and caring for others. Saying things like "don't you care about your mother?" "I know that one day you will run away with your boyfriend and leave your mother alone".
I think that a lot of what I suffered was gender pressure and everyone judging me for not behaving like an adult and responsible woman. I had to drop out of college because of my mother while all my male cousins were going to college and how proud they all were of it. I would hear things like "I'm so proud of my son because he's living in a college dorm and making his own food. He's becoming a man" while I was cleaning an entire house, making food and changing diapers I spent almost 8 months without having any kind of time to go out because my mother and grandmother couldn't stay at home alone and yet everyone told me how I should have already been working at my age.
My mother died two months ago and I'm still not employed or studying. I don't even know what I'm going to do with my life. My husband and I have become more distant since my mother died, we love each other very much and he was the only reason I was able to do everything I did. He helped me clean the house and make food for my grandmother and mother.We're great together and I think we just went through one of the hardest things we've ever had to deal with. We love each other very much, but after my mom passed away we are stressed about moving out and starting our lives together.
I've tried to lose weight, but I can't stay on a diet for long. I'm doing skincare for my skin because my acne is horrible, but my skin only looks worse.
I'm just here looking for words of comfort and tips.
Posted Oct 6, 2023, 11:37 PM UTC