Importance Of Significant Events In My Life

Significant events in my timeline that influenced me to become a social worker always involved my mother. Certainly, there are many events that have impacted my life that I have overlooked, chose to forget or unconscious of. Residuals of these events are detrimental to write about but important to acknowledge them with respect to how they influenced me and my journey to cope. The most influential event was my mother’s challenge in dealing with depression. As a child and adolescent, I did not understand that she could not control her depression. Distant, sad, and angry were her typical moods and it got significantly worse when my father went to jail. My father went to jail for drug trafficking for 13 years. During those 13 years,

It was as if everything hit me at once: my father leaving, my mother’s depression, and mostly trying to live like a normal college freshman while still working two part-time jobs to help my mom. I never left my dorm room unless I had to go to work, therefore, never went to class to learn anything. Needless to say, I failed all my courses my freshman year and the university suspended me with the chance of going back after one semester. During my semester off, my mother decided to retire and move to Mexico. That left me with no choice but to move in with my siblings. I played Goldilocks from house to house until I finally felt comfortable with my brother, Cesar. Living with my brother has been the most stable environment for me. Lucky for me, as stated by in the genogram, he is considered upper-middle class. Here, I have had the luxury of focusing on school rather than working to feed myself. I have also been able to focus on healing myself and learning what my skills are and how I can apply them to advocate for

This year, my oldest brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. From the conversations that I’ve had with him recently, I can see him becoming less ashamed of it. Putting a label to his actions has also helped him realize that it was his mental illness that he reacted with. My other siblings and I have also experienced some type of depression disorder such as PMDD, postpartum depression, and anxiety. As a family, we are trying to educate each other about mental health and becoming more open about it with our other family members. Taboos concerning mental health constrain my Mexican family from seeking help, therefore, we find it important to make ourselves vulnerable in speaking