Depression Forum - Friend With Dysthymia

I am a 17 year old male with a friend who is suffering from a bad case of depression. She is going to be 17 next month, and we go to school together. Yesterday (27/11/06) she went to the doctors, and has started medication for depression. She is very bottled up (an effect of her condition I think) and didn't tell me much of what went on, but from knowing her, I think it is dysthymia. My dad (consultant neuroanaesthetist) suggested it could be bi-polar disorder (from what I told him; he doesnt know her very well) but she complains of constant depression, she doesnt ever have the euphoric periods that manic depressives have. However, she doesnt eat well, complains of fatigue and tiredness, yet hardly sleeps, she also has a very poor self-image - she is athletic, and has an athletic body, but complains she is fat, and eats in minute amounts to "diet". She also lives far out in the country, so often doesnt see people, and feels she is socially isolated, and often just talks to those outside of out school, making her feel very isolated in school and at school parties. Aside from that, from conversations with her, I think she feels hopelessness, self-hatred and other negative self reflections. All of this has been recurring over long periods of time (3+ years as far as I know).

That leads me to my first question, which is if I am right in thinking she has dysthymia. My second question is if she does, how can I help her? I know that the doctor she is seeing will give her medication, and has asked her to return weekly for visits, which im guessing is for psychotherapy, so im not trying to meddle or anything, but im still really worried for her.

The main reasons im still worried is because other than the doctor she feels she cannot trust anyone, especially not her family. She very often has extremely negative feelings towards her mother, I thought this might just be how some teenage girls often argue with their mother, but of late shes even been saying she just doesnt care about her mother at all. She is often angry (another indicator/effect of the dysthymia I think) so she can be often irritable with her dad. The only person she speaks to about her feelings in her family is one of her brothers, however he is at oxford uni. At school and friendwise she talks to me about her feelings, and another common friend of ours (a girl), but she often is reluctant to talk about them to us, often saying she regrets doing it, and any sort of suggestions and advice are often taken very badly. The other thing that worries me, she just got rejected from oxford on the basis of age. She applied for art, and spent the past few months making a huge art folio at the expense of sleep, social occasions and many other things she enjoys to complete it. Also all of her older siblings have either graduated or are attending oxford.

Thanks for your time, I thought getting adivce from here would be a good idea because my friend decided to see a doctor based on the advice given to her by nurses on a similar health forum. If you have any help or suggestions to lend, please do, even if you think the best idea is to leave it to the doctor. Thanks again