Why I feel depressed just because I am a stay at home mother?

Why do I keep feeling like I need to fake being sick to stay home?

• I'm unsure if I have depression, but I know I have a case of anxiety. I'm a senior in High School, I get bullied all to Hell, but it's let up well in the past few years and I finally have good friends who don't shun me. I have horrible relationship with my mother, I never see my father, and just recently my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer (I'm very close to him, he was more like a second daddy to me.) Other than this one glaring fault, I'm a pretty mature person, I'm an artist and a writer, I have college plans and got accepted with three grants so money isn't an issue, I have my dorm picked out and love my roomie, and I'm glad to be going to a big city away from the Christian bigots here. But recently, even though my life is looking up, I skip school and claim I'm too tired to go or too sick. I do have some pretty nasty medical disorders, (Marfans) and a heart condition, but I don't think I'm actually tired or sick. My best friend who is moving to college with me so we can be roomies graduated a year before me and when I stay home I find myself calling her over to hang out with me. I never see her otherwise. But it's not like I don't have other friends at school, even my teachers love me. (most of them) And the friends I have at school aren't as good friends as the one I stay home with, but they're worth being good friends with since I have trust problems and social snxiety. I only have three classes, one being art, the other band, and last AP ENGLISH. I'm good at all my subjects and am not failing even though I miss so much school. It's two or three days a week that I refuse to go. But this is making tension at home for me. The other reason I am considering is that my mother makes me stressed, don't ask me why because that's a looooong story full of abuse, but I can't be home when she's home and feel relaxed, even if I'm in my room with the door locked. Maybe my home life is so bad that I need to take a break from her to get real work done? I find myself being really productive when my mother isn't home, but when she is I freeze up. I also feel like I get more done at home than I do wasting 6 hours on study halls at school. Is this normal for a senior in my position? What can I do to get myself to school in the morning? Help?

• Answer:

  The first thing I would say is that if you're being abused in some way, you should go to the police or your school counselor. There is no way you should put up with that. Second, go to the school counselor anyway and let them know how you're feeling. There is help out there if you ask for it. Most towns also have helplines that you can call to talk. Check the phone book or 411. Congratulations on your scholarships and your success in school. Please get help and don't throw away all of your hard work.