Reasons Why...I'm depressed

So, the reality is I'm feeling so discouraged and depressed these days, and I feel embarrased and ashamed to admit out loud that I'm not coping well. Getting out of bed in the morning is total agony, because I feel like I'm under a mountain of sadness, and I can't seem to build up my reserves.

Some of the mountain is made up of my own life struggles (singleness, weight gain, financial stress, work stress, self-esteem, lack of adequate self-care, feelings of incompetence, blah, blah, blah). All of that is baggage I'm used to carrying around and dealing with.

What I'm not used to is the fact that much of my mountain has been built on sadness from my work. I'm overwhelmed by the needs of the families and the students with whom I'm working and the lack of resources available to them. I can't really go into detail because their information obviously has to remain confidential.

What I can say is these are some of the reasons I feel buried under sadness:
*There are so many children who go to school exhausted everyday because they do not have beds to sleep on or even bedrooms to sleep in because the only way their families can afford to live is with multiple families sharing very small apartments (like 8 people sharing a 2 bedroom apt).

*There are many families who had until today to pay their rent and they will soon receive eviction notices because there is a serious lack of rental assistance in Washington County. Unless they have family or friends to take them in temporarily, these families will go on the waiting lists for shelters. My question is, where are they supposed to go while they are on the waiting lists?

*There are alarming numbers of Latino boys who think that the only way to get the love and acceptance they are yearning for is to join a gang. At least then they know someone will always have their back when their biological family seems to have abandoned them.

*Food should be a guarantee, not a privelege. Children should not have to go to churches begging for food because their family cannot afford to buy it.

*No one should feel like life is so unbearable that the only answer is to attempt suicide two times by age 14.

These are just a few of the many examples that weigh on my heart.

I'm not exactly sure how to cope with it all. In the past I've been blessed with amazing supervisors who impart wisdom and encouragement during these heavy times. I don't have that level of support from my current employer. I talked to two people today who I would consider my mentors, and both of them offered some of this wisdom and encouragement I've been looking for. I'm so grateful for their presence in my life. I know that eating healthy, exercising, getting enough sleep, getting support from colleagues, friends, and family...all of these help me cope, but they don't make the realities of my clients go away.

The extent to which I've been so overwhelmed makes me wonder if I'm cut out to be a social worker. I've started thinking maybe I care too much and I get too emotionally involved. Perhaps I just need to accept that life isn't fair, some people will suffer more than others, and there's no way to help everyone who needs it.

The problem is I'm just not satisfied with that. Everyday I see people (including myself) waste money on things that we "need" to make us happy and fulfilled. Why don't we get as much of a thrill from knowing our neighbors have food on their tables as we do from buying the latest and greatest things to meet our "needs?"