I’ve been having depression and anxiety problems for 3 years. It got worse when my oldest brother died two years ago. I’ve met with a psychologist because of the my bad behavior at home, but I was never open to talking because I felt like I couldn’t trust my therapist. My parents are going through hard times and I feel like I treat them as though I was the head of the household instead of them. I’m honestly tired of feeling like this and I want to change. What would you recommend?

Young Man Talking To Counsellor Who Takes NotesFirst of all, we would like to say that we are sorry to hear of your brother’s passing. A death in the family can cause many problems (within the family) in addition to the grief everyone must feel. Sometimes it can cause conflict between parents. Sometimes kids don’t want to talk about it with their parents because they are afraid they will make their parents upset. It is also very common to have a lot of anger after such a significant loss. You do need to talk to someone about it. The teen years can be hard enough even without such a difficult loss. If you can find a therapist or counselor, such as a school counselor or clergy person, and talk about your loss, you will feel better and many of the other problems will get better also. Please give counseling another try, maybe with a different counselor.  They can also help you with your family relationships and your anger. We hope you start to feel better soon.