i never thought about that, at least he shoulda taken her to a therapist and she probably shoulda been on anti depressants

Just throwing someone at therapy without trying anything else first is probably always a bad decision. He tried something after a while and it seemed to be working, so there was no reason.

And she was not severely depressed. It's not as if she began cutting or trying to kill herself or lashing out at people. She kept to herself, cried, and had nightmares. That's pretty common.

I do agree that he shouldn't have just flung therapy at her, but she became a shadow in the four months after Edward left. I think Charlie should have seen a doctor about it, especially as one doctor used the word catatonic when describing her.

I think she was severely depressed, but in a different way to how some people perceive depression. She described all the pain she went through, the total lack of feeling for anything else, the lack of any emotion apart from misery, the utter hopelessness. I think something should have been done about it.

True, but I think 3-4 months is a reasonable peoriod of time to wait before action. Some people truly do recover on their own after given their grievance period.
I know she was really depressed. I meant viewin her from the outside, she probably didnt look as troubled as she was. I phrased it wrong.

I mean what else was there for him to do? She literally did nothing. The screaming at night should have been the big trigger.

He could have offered her a change of scenery, such as moving to Florida with her mother. Or he could have encouraged her to go out with friends.
But instead he offered her a change in scenery and encouraged her to hang out with friends. What a horrible father, he did that all wrong.

'Hospitalized" seems a bit harsh. Unless, of course, this was what you meant.

By 'hospitalised', I did mean seeing a professional for help.

Whoops then, my mistake. :P For me "hospitalized" means more than just talking to a therapist and taking prescribed drugs. To me it means going to a Psychiatric Ward where people with Schizophrenia, Personality Disorders, etc. also go. She didn't seem that messed up to me.

She needed some help.

^Totally

cassie123, you get a diagnosis of depression after two WEEKS of being depressed, not three or four months. That's like an eternity to a teenager, especially a depressed one.
Bella for sure needed some professional help. At least get her on some drugs or something.

I didn't say it was impossible for her to have depression not did I say anything abut how long you need to be depressed before recovering a diagnosis. I have no doubt she would have been diagnosed with depression, but what needs to be taken into consideration is what would have worked for Bella. Maybe medication would have worked, maybe it wasn't the best choice for her. I personally don't think it was severe enough for that. And I doubt any legitimate doctor would have prescribed her antidepressants before at least trying talk therapy, which would have probably made things worse for her, considering she would not be able to talk about her issues with anyone without the guilt of putting herself, the Cullens, and her father at risk. So not only would be have been sad about the breakup, being forced into therapy would force her to dwell on her problems more than she did without any real way to sort it out. She would have to make up this fake story or leave the major points out.

Maybe if we were dealing with an everyday average father with an everyday average daughter suffering from everyday average depression going throug an everyday average breakup, it would have been wise... AFTER a while of showing signs of depression, not immediately after the breakup. I don't know how many of you have ever even been through a breakup, but just in case you don't know, being sad and wanting to be alone and having bad dreams is a normal response. After a prolonged period is when you need to take action. And that's exactly what happened.

You guys are speaking as if her behavior, according to Charlie, was dangerous and she was a danger to herself and others and required immediate attention. Now... If Bella was visibly hurting herself or trying to kill herself, then yes, he should have done something sooner.