Thanks again for all of your thoughts. I can see now that this was more of a medical question that is difficult for anyone to answer without knowing my daughter and her situation very well. Hearing stories of kids with similar issues who studied abroad and how they fared helps a lot, although I realize that every kid and situation is different.
My difficulty is what so many of you have expressed - it’s just so hard to know how serious her depression is. The dark times I mentioned in my previous post were a few times spring semester when she was isolated in her dorm room binging Netflix for a day or two. She always managed to get herself out of that, but often it was after a visit home or a visit from us that she felt better. It hasn’t ever involved hospitalization or any real fear for her safety, but the scary thing about mental health issues with young adults (especially private ones like my D) is you just don’t know how serious it is. To me, she seems to be doing better this semester. But, she had some sadness about going back to school recently after being home for fall break and that probably reinforced my concerns and prompted my post.
I so appreciate you all making a recommendation based on your experiences. I’ll talk to her a lot more over the next few days and, if she goes, will absolutely make sure that she has a therapist and medication lined up, as well as plans for what to do if she starts to feel isolated. I’ll also advise her to do more research into how many social events are planned with the study abroad group. I know there is a multiple day orientation and at least one weekend trip as a group, but finding out how many other scheduled events there will be, if any, is a good idea. When we spoke last night, she mentioned some clubs she’s found that she’d like to join at the U in Australia and parks where she’d like to go on runs, etc., so I thought that was a good sign. I’ll also make sure that either my husband or I have our passports updated and can go there as quickly as possible, if needed.
Thanks again for the advice.