Oh, Nora. Feh is so right. And you're so right to realize that until she wants to help herself there's not much you can do. And, while committing her would keep her safe, it may not do much good right now because of that. I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with this. Much love to you both.

Thanks, guys. It's just so hard to stand by and watch. And now that she's isolated herself even further by moving to another part of the state, there's just so little that can be done. We are planning on going to visit her this weekend, and we don't even know if she'll see us, and if she does, it is sure to be unpleasant. But at least she knows we care, right?

Aaand, another email.

She's very good at pushing buttons.

Oh, {{{Nora}}}. I'm so sorry. You don't need this. And you're a good friend to deal with it yet again.

Maybe going to visit her isn't such a great idea. I don't know. There's time to think about it. She's so angry and attack-y right now.

I am trying not to be upset, but I am.

I am trying not to be upset, but I am.

I'd be surprised if that plan was working. This stuff is really hard to deal with. And the thing is, she probably has no idea to what extent it's getting to you. I know I never did until I dealt with it with J. And J didn't until she dealt with it with another friend. It's meant to be self-destructive, but it isn't just that. But, she probably can't see that right now. We're here, though. And talk through it as much as you need to. Mwah!

My friend is still alive, as I just got an extremely nasty email from her describing how her life sucks and how I can't understand her and she can't understand me.

Are there other signs that say there's potentially illness involved in this (I may have missed them)? She may have decided to edit people and things she's decided are extraneous to her life, a hurtful process when you're not expecting it.

I think there's depression involved, certainly.

Maybe I am being stupid about this, when it's just that she doesn't want to be my friend after ~20 years. It certainly could be as simple as that. Who knows? Certainly I don't.

What you've shared here reads like depression to me, Nora, from your first post on the subject, on.