From a Parent:

“My daughter's ex best friend has turned against her.”

Dear Annie,

My 13 year old daughter (Jane) had become very depressed and actually suicidal. We immediately got professional help for her and she was diagnosed with a mood disorder akin to bipolar 2. She was honest with her "best friend" (Betty) and believed that she would be supportive. Instead, Betty began gossiping about Jane. Then she sent my daughter an E-mail in which her father called Jane crazy. Needless to say, Jane's depression worsened and her anxiety attacks became so profound that despite regular counseling and adjustment of meds she couldn't go to school.

So now Betty has spread through out the school that Jane had to leave school because of pregnancy and numerous other disgusting accusations. Now Jane is being shunned by all except one guy friend. (Keep in mind, for the past several months, since the depression and anxiety first began, we never leave Jane alone... not even to go to the grocery.) The cruelty of these teens is absolutely mind boggling.

The principal and counselor at the school seem to have the attitude that kids will be kids. Jane is totally terrified of the idea of me talking with Betty's parents. I am at wits end and after months of suicide watch and watching my precious, creative daughter become ashen with grief I have become too angry to even sleep. What else can I do?

Jane's Mom

From a Teen:

“What can you do when people just stop talking to you?”

Hey Terra,

You just recently visited my school. I enjoyed your talk, but it also made my friend and I a little uneasy. You talked about how sometimes friends grow apart, and sometimes people just don't like each other anymore. Well that has happened to my friend and I. Last year everyone was getting in fights and there seemed to be different groups that all hated each other. This year I thought things would be different and everyone could just get along... and they did, at first.

Everything was going fine until one day our whole class just stopped talking to me and my friend. Our other friends would just walk by us and glare at us like we had done something wrong. People would talk about us behind out backs and laugh as we walked by. We had no idea what was going on. I chose to talk to one of my friends about it and she said that she wasn't mad at me, but that it just seemed like I was too depressed to have friends. This I did not understand. I was never depressed and I always thought that I was actually a happy person. The only time when I was quiet or sad was when no one would talk to me besides my friend (the one that people were also mad at). I don't know what to do, and my friend and I are very confused. Please help.

Very Confused and Lonely