My friend just swallowed a whole bottle of tylenol...

[BelwinMills 0]

She will give her time. I hope she gets some counseling to help her situation.

[Autumnchik 6]

Good advice to call the local hospital. You might also do a search for the local community mental health center in her town and contact them for advice. Community mental health centers generally have on-call staff for after hours and crises.

[RosaMystica7 0]

Thanks guys. My dad had a good point. He said that if she were showing no outward signs of distress, denied the whole thing, and refused medical treatment there's no way they could force her into medical treatment... so my guess is that's what happened.

What I might do is contact a local mental health center to ask for advice on how to proceed. I don't want to wreck the friendship, I want to be there for her. But I don't want to inadvertantly do something that makes her trust me less, or say something stupid that hurts her, or push too much.

[MichelleandCraig 1]

First of all, thank *goodness* she's alright, and IMO you did the right thing...good friend.

2nd of all, again IMO, if she doesn't email you back straight away or get in touch with you soon somehow...and she *was* just attention seeking or something....as others have said, obviously something is wrong with her and she needs help. In that case, it probably wouldn't be the first thing on her mind to be worried about what you might be thinking, etc. You know? (not that she *shouldn't be, as a friend, but...) if she's really depressed or has other mental health issues going on, it's very common just not to care really...know what I mean? Hard to say what's happening, but if it's anything like that, I feel sorry for her and hope she does get some help. I've been there before with depression, and you just don't really care what anyone thinks of pretty much *anything* you do when you're in that state.... M.

[eap620 0]

Just wanted to say that I am sorry you had to go through this. You were such a good friend! I hope she gets better and calls or writes you soon. I hope you REALLY know that no matter what, your actions were top notch and no matter what the outcome, you did the best thing you could have done. Bravo on acting so quickly!!!!

[RosaMystica7 0]

Thank you guys. She e-mailed me today asking how I figured out where she lived. She also just gave me an update on her life and said we'll talk later if she can get on the computer again. I'm glad she doesn't hate me for what I did.

[Mags 112]

Thank you guys. She e-mailed me today asking how I figured out where she lived. She also just gave me an update on her life and said we'll talk later if she can get on the computer again. I'm glad she doesn't hate me for what I did.

You didn't do anything wrong. She is the one who should be apologising to YOU for the stress she caused you!

[RosaMystica7 0]

I know I didn't do anything wrong. And I will not apologize because I have nothing to apologize for. I'd do it again in an instant. I just know she's probably not exactly happy about what I did, so I'm glad she's talking to me still.

I feel so bad for her. Her dad left for his new family, her mom's sick and on oxygen, her sister's having a lot of diabetic episodes, her grandma's having heart problems... they're in the middle of nowhere, only 2 stores both in different directions - one 12 miles in one direction, the other 14 miles in the other direction. She's been trying to find a job but there's no jobs open near her. So she sits around all day and serves her sick family and drives between the two stores. She's got no friends down there. She's 21 years old. I'd be depressed too if I were in that situation.

[Mags 112]

I know I didn't do anything wrong. And I will not apologize because I have nothing to apologize for. I'd do it again in an instant. I just know she's probably not exactly happy about what I did, so I'm glad she's talking to me still.

I feel so bad for her. Her dad left for his new family, her mom's sick and on oxygen, her sister's having a lot of diabetic episodes, her grandma's having heart problems... they're in the middle of nowhere, only 2 stores both in different directions - one 12 miles in one direction, the other 14 miles in the other direction. She's been trying to find a job but there's no jobs open near her. So she sits around all day and serves her sick family and drives between the two stores. She's got no friends down there. She's 21 years old. I'd be depressed too if I were in that situation.

It does sound like all the attention is focussed on others and not her. Perhaps that the reason she did what she did. Although her situation is not of your making, perhaps you could take this opportunity to keep in touch. Fire off a regular email to her, keep her connected to your world, make her feel that she has something other than her seemingly endless problems.

I had a really depressed friend whilst I was growing up. She tried to commit suicide and I was the one who found her and called the paramedics when she OD'd. She thanks me now (we are both 34) and is grateful, but she was very hard to deal with over the following years.

She told me that I was the only one who treated her normally and it helped. I got nothing back from her at the time, but now I can appreciate that it helped HER and that was the most important thing.

[RosaMystica7 0]

Yeah, I sent her back a response, ended it changing the subject and asking about how her dogs are doing. I'll make a point to e-mail her regularly. My fiance and I are planning to move to Virginia at some point, we're sort of hoping for before next winter because I'm sick of the cold, snow, and ice. When the time comes, if my friend still lives where she does, I'll look at towns closer to the NC border. She lives not too far from the VA border. Maybe we could see each other once in a while. I just need to make sure we don't make the same mistake her family did - moving to a town in the middle of nowhere where you know nobody. We'll need to find a place near somewhere relatively large so we won't be all alone out there. We'll look into it.

[Mags 112]

Yeah, I sent her back a response, ended it changing the subject and asking about how her dogs are doing. I'll make a point to e-mail her regularly. My fiance and I are planning to move to Virginia at some point, we're sort of hoping for before next winter because I'm sick of the cold, snow, and ice. When the time comes, if my friend still lives where she does, I'll look at towns closer to the NC border. She lives not too far from the VA border. Maybe we could see each other once in a while. I just need to make sure we don't make the same mistake her family did - moving to a town in the middle of nowhere where you know nobody. We'll need to find a place near somewhere relatively large so we won't be all alone out there. We'll look into it.

That's a nice idea. If you have the room (and you don't mind) why don't you invite her up to stay with you for a few days. Might alleviate her boredom, give her a change of scenery etc etc

[RosaMystica7 0]

That's a good idea! No room right now, I'm in my parents house and they don't exactly like having guests. But after I get an apartment and my fiance moves here I'll ask him about inviting her up, we'll have to see what kind of extra space we have. The only thing is I'm not sure who would take care of her mom, sister, and grandma while she's gone. Hmm. My approved time off from work for our civil marriage isn't all too far away, it's a month from now. Maybe we could do it the other way, go down to NC for a few days if we can afford it.