It sounds like this is a little bit above mom's comfort level is all. Also it appears as though she doesn't handle bad times very well. I'd say your therapist did the right thing by suggesting to give mom some space. You'll find out through life that one person can't be everything you need for one reason or another. You should in my opinion, find someone who's more privvy to depression. Ask questions to people who are close to you, things like "have you dealt with someone who has depression before?" or "have you suffered from a mental illness before?" If you're asking people you trust and confide in, then they will answer you truthfully.
My mother and I are a textbook case of estrangement. She's hot and cold all of the time. She's very old fashioned and thinks everyone should live their lives just like she does. When i was growing up, she always called me a slut and a whore or easy. All because I had long-term relationships where we were intimate. Also she blamed my rape on me when it happened. She's the reason I didn't press charges.
She told my younger sister, older brother and myself that if any of us got pregnant or a tattoo she'd financially cut us off and disown us. I couldn't imagine how getting a tattoo or getting pregnant were on the same level or how either of these things were worthy of disowning her children over.
Well I got a tattoo during college and a spiteful ex boyfriend told her, so she cut me off in the middle of a semester while I was financially dependent upon her. It was probably the worst time in my life because I had to somehow afford this lifestyle I was living or rather downsize like crazy, dropout of college, find a job worth a damn I could live on, deal with my cat dying, and I got shingles. That was all because of a tattoo and one idiot boyfriend.
To this day I have 4 big tattoos! My mother doesn't like them but accepts me after her three years of scorn. There's an obvious favoritism over my siblings. I talk to her but it's different. I think she feels guilty. I don't really enjoy being around her for very long. I have many other sources to get advice from. My husband, his parents, my best friends, my dad and his wife. I've grown to be very adaptable.