Worried...
I just told my mother that I want to take the next trimester off to focus on dealing with my mental health issues. She is not at all sold on the idea, and was trying to convince me to go to school this spring and then to come home for the summer, which would be awful. I haven't told her that my pdoc recommended an out-patient program...if it's not working out, I guess I'll let her know. I am absolutely not telling her about my hospitalization and my later shoplifting arrest, because she'd never let me leave the house.
Really, I don't know why I'm making a huge deal of it - my parents contribute nothing to my education, I'm basically financially independent. But if I can't find a job soon, I will have to ask them to cosign a loan for me...Also, talking to them about the whole thing is just painful because it makes it amazingly clear that my parents don't know me at all.
Hey sarcophagus.heels, first I have to say, every time I see your username, for some depraved reason, I think of my ex-girlfriend and her 4 inch heels. It was mandatory/clearance for her attire she rock no less than 4 inches. Maybe I should just get over it, haha

.
But yeah, I'm now wishing, more than halfway through the semester, I had sat this one out. I had more than one escalating drug habit, and I should have known at best I wouldn't handle the semester well - especially since I was to prospectively start my thesis now, which I did; however it all caught up with me between the intensifying drug use and the subsequent and current effort to quit along with the perfunctory sickness nipping at my motivation. I understand your issues are different than mine, but taking a semester off can be a shrewd decision. I've done it before to get my alcoholism in check, and I still believe it preserved my GPA and allowed me to easily enter grad school. Furthermore, my parents were explicitly opposed to my decision at the time, yet when they saw I was making a concerted and earnest effort to address and amend my problem they gradually understood. In my case, as a 20 year old with an alcohol problem, my folks assumed initially I was taking the time to exacerbate my issues. I could understand from were they were coming, so I conserved my energy, avoided clashing with them, and subtly showed them by action I was at least making an effort to better myself. In terms of academics it concluded well. I don't struggle with alcohol anymore, but I do with other addictions now. Anyway, I hope with time your mother will see you are genuinely making the best decisions for yourself. Good luck.
PS - I picked up a copy of My Booky Wook at the booky shop. I was a bit chagrined when I had to ask for help finding it.
Right now,
euphoric. Damn the limitations of the English language: I need one word to convey euphoria tainted with guilt. Bittersweet sensations of some kind, perhaps?