Please Dua and Advice - My Mother’s Anxiety and IVF Struggles
Assalamu alaikum. I’ll keep it short. My mother lost her own mother to cancer when she was about 15. She’s the eldest daughter and had to leave school to care for her younger siblings. At 19 she was forced to marry my father by my grandfather, and she had me at 20. My grandfather treated them very badly and remarried a woman who neglected my aunts and uncles. He pressured the girls into marriage and took part of their mehr. My mom carries a lot of regret from those times - for example one aunt ended up with a terrible husband despite my mom trying to protect her. All that responsibility shaped her into a controlling, take-charge person. Through everything she stayed strong. I hardly ever saw her cry growing up; she was stubborn and funny, and she and my father have a loving relationship, may Allah bless them. Lately my father has expressed a desire for a son. I have three little sisters. My father is a wonderful husband and father - he never pressured my mom or threatened to marry again, unlike what we hear sometimes in our culture. Still, I feel guilty for not having a brother. I carry a lot of the household responsibilities: cooking, cleaning, college, looking after my siblings and parents, and now supporting my mother emotionally and physically. Because my mother has severe anxiety, she had a panic attack and fainted when it was time to do IVF. They’ve been trying for about two years with no success. IVF feels risky to her and the word itself terrifies her, so we avoid saying it around her. Since that panic attack her anxiety has worsened and she now has insomnia - she sleeps maybe two hours and still feels wide awake. Her mental health is getting worse. She’s on medication but is hesitant to take it and panics about side effects. My father has told her she doesn’t have to continue the treatment and that if Allah blesses them with a son, Alhamdulillah, and if not, Alhamdulillah. He just wants her to get better. But she seems stuck in this state and can’t pull out of it. It’s heartbreaking to watch her change. In the past three months she’s become very emotional - crying a lot (I’d rarely seen her cry before), lost about 20 pounds, dark circles under her eyes, hugging us more (she was never touchy before), sensitive to loud noises, and struggling to hold conversations. She used to speak thoughtfully about politics, science, and Islam; now she mostly repeats that she wants to get better. The IVF isn’t the only trigger: two relatives were recently diagnosed with cancer, and the weather here is cold and gloomy, so many things piled up. This started with depression and escalated to severe anxiety over the past four months. Please, if anyone has practical advice, resources, or duas, I’d be so grateful. I feel helpless watching my mom deteriorate. I know this is a test from Allah - our prayers and worship have increased - but I need guidance on how to help her day to day. She’s only 41. Jazakum Allah khair for any help or dua.