Brother Pete,
Went through something similar a few years back with our youngest, although he was still at home with us. Depression can be paralyzing and it's tough, as parents, to know how to proceed. My first recommendation is to persuade your son to get the help he needs. We enrolled our youngest in a day center that helped give him coping skills to recognize the onset of depressive thoughts and to find ways to address them (he had a double-whammy of anxiety, too).
As to the HOA, I'd tell them to shove it (although I'm letting my ire cloud my judgement here). Your son isn't a "guest"...he's your FAMILY. That's a crucial difference. I can see the HOA getting up in arms if a resident was sub-letting an apartment to a stranger. However, the HOA seeking to prevent parents from supporting a child during a crisis is an entirely separate thing and, IMHO, despicable. Are you on reasonable terms with any of the HOA officials? If so, perhaps you could have a private word with them to press the point I'm making about family not being guests?
Hope things start to come together for your family. We'll keep you all in our prayers.
Buff,
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, it means a great deal. I hope your son is doing well now and over his depression and anxiety issues.
I agree, you ask yourself sometimes how anyone could miss the signs leading up to something bad happening and when it happens to you, well, suddenly it becomes clear. When you're too close to the problem or just don't want to admit to yourself (in my case) that your child is having serious issues. Again, I thank God he doesn't have any addictions to battle and he has a pretty good support group with his older brother and two younger sisters. There's some sibling friction there but in hard times/emergencies they stick together like glue, I'm very proud of them for that.
As to the HOA, we're in a condo and while it's really nice it's way too easy for the self appointed condo high sheriffs to spot any infractions, I have to keep my cars in my garage which is dicey as I have my old muscle car plus my wife's and my car. I'm constantly playing roulette with the available spaces in the VERY small parking lot. I can have "A" car in my driveway for several hours if it is a visitor. UGH. I really didn't think this through when we bought the place 3 years ago. We've already decided to put it up for sale, not sure how that will fly in this housing market here in Florida but this thing with our son was the last straw.
To top it all off, the guy next door not only has a yappy little dog that carries on quite a bit, he's a rat (tattle tale for those not associated with U.S. Slang). But I can assure you, if push comes to shove, our son takes precedence over any HOA BS, after his time at the motel runs out I think he can manage just fine in the spare room. Also since we decided to sell, I've been firing up the Monte Carlo a lot more often just to make sure it stays in tune...
Maybe I shouldn't have those 3" exhausts with the MagnaFlows on that 454, just saying.
Huh, I managed another magnum opus again, sorry for the rant, but it does give a little relief to chat with you all about it.