<p>When my gal was a freshman - she had a great friend - who happened to start the slide into depression - and landed there very quickly. My gal was very concerned about her friend and really tried to do the right thing - knowing about the privacy laws and all that - but one day I received a call from my gal - somewhat upset and explained what was happening to her friend and wanted to know if she should call her friends mother because she was sooo concerned - yes this girl was sleeping 16 hours a day - not going to class - disheveled all the time - not eating - not taking care of herself, etc… all the classic signs if severe depression.</p>
<p>My advice to her was to go to her friend and to ask her if she could call her mother because of her concern - and if she did not agree to this - my gal was to immediately go to the RA - which she was prepared to do - but someone else got there first - someone else had contacted the mother - and according to her mother (found out later) left an anonymous message on her phone about her daughter lying in a puddle of pee and she needed to get her b**tt to the dorm and get her out of it!! - It was NOT my gal who did this horrible call.</p>
<p>In the mean time - my gal went to the friend and did call the mother - who was actually enroute to the school to find out what was going on - as she had not been able to reach her DD or the RA or anyone else quickly. According to my gal - her friend was awake and ok with all of this - and on the mother’s request - my gal stayed with her til mom got there. Then all hell broke loose. The mom had been aware of a history of depression - no one at the school knew - the friend had stopped her meds - no one knew - was very ill at this point - no-one except my gal seemd to take notice and be concerned - but the ‘chicken’ who placed that call to her was never found.</p>
<p>Mom got there and immediately got an emergency eval done and then the gal and her mom were told by admin that she had to be out of the dorm within 3 days - because of very significant potential of her being harmful to herself or to others - and required 24/7 supervision at this point - was restarted on meds and not hospitalized. The RA was racked over the coals for not being more aware of the girl having problems - by the mom - and by the school as well. The one thing that was a bit more positive was that the school sided with the mother - and did allow mom and daughter to remain in the dorm for the 3 days it took to get her moved out.</p>
<p>So in this situation - there was a lack of action by the RA - and the dean was involved - but it seems that it was appropriately handled - and the drama piece was that horrid phone call. I am glad my gal cared enough to at least take some type of action - she had never really been involved in anything like this before - but did know and understand the privacy issues that were involved in all of this.</p>
<p>Just as an update - after a very bumpy couple of years - this gal is now doing great - in college - working and all that - and she and my gal are still very good friends - and her mom just loves my gal also ;)</p>