my relationship with my mother is suffering...

My mother lately has been extremely stressed out; she got in a car accident about two weeks ago, and the car was totaled. We've been renting a car, but we have to return it tomorrow. Also, my mother only got 1800 dollars for the car, and she has to borrow 1200 dollars from our great uncle so she can buy a new one. She's been out of work since last June, and we barely have any financial assistance...
And on top of it all, my mom is going through a horrible divorce with my dad who refuses to pay child's support.
Anyway, my mom has been taking all of her stress out on me...she yells and swears at me, calling me names, and I don't know what to do to help her...I want her to stop, but I don't know what to do...it's obvious to me that she's under a great deal of stress, but she's doing nothing to help herself.
So I'd really appreciate it if someone could please give me some advice on what to do; I honestly don't know how much more I can take.

thanks,
-Rizallessar

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I know this is a difficult time...and you are asking very
important questions.  all across the world, children are
finding that parents are re-acting to stress and
lashing out at those they most love.
unfortunately. You can't do anything to get her work or fix her financial problems, and you probably can't do much to end the war between her and your father.  In other words, there are real limitations what you can do to relieve your mother, but you can do something for yourself, which is  give up the idea that you can fix her, or that you are responsible for making her feel better. That will free you from a great deal of stress.

The next thing you can do is tell your mother to stop yelling at you, and remind her that you are on her side. That may not help much, but it could set the stage for better relations.

The third thing, and the most important, is to try to use the wise understanding of the whole situation you already possess to distance yourself from the words she says so you don't internalize them as if they may be true. Your mother can't be the nurturing , understanding, objective, or fair minded mother you deserve right now, but hopefully will be that when the crisis subsides.