living with a family member who suffers with depression

I would like to speak to people who are living with someone who suffers with psychological problems such as depression etc. My mom has been suffering with depression for many years. However it is not only depression its something else as well. How do I explain it? When she goes out to social gatherings she has lost her ability to socialise. She talks too fast, feels unworthy, I don't know if this has been caused as a result of her depression or maybe its because she's been through alot in her life....she feels people no longer want to have conversations with her because they can see that there is something mentally wrong with her..damn!!! its difficult to describe. sometimes she seems to be getting better but then something would happen and the depression would come back worse. She uses terms such as ' something seems to snap in my brain' or 'my head feels like its burning'. Are these types of terms common in people with depression? As children, we always want our parents to be strong and 'perfect', to be there to offer us support when we need it, but yet when something is wrong with them, why do we as children find it so hard to accept? It took my siblings and I many years (I am now 27 years old) before we accepted that my mom really does have a psychological imbalance. Whenever she used to tell us that she feels she is not 'normal' we used to try to minimize the severity of her situation by telling her she's just imagining things and that she's as normal as anybody else. It is only now when outsiders are commenting that my mom does not seem right that we've finally accepted that maybe we should be more understanding.
What iv written here is not the full story its actually a little more complicated but if what iv said sounds familiar in anyway I would really like talking to you. If you too are living with a spouse or family member similar to my mom please contact me. Or if you have any advise on how we could help my mom regain her self confidence