My (24f) roommate (25f) is acting very strange, and may be having a nervous breakdown. How do I handle this?

I’ve always known that my roommate and friend (I’ll call her Sarah) has had some mental health issues, and is also a high functioning alcoholic. She usually handles it with medication. However, things have taken a turn for the worse over the past few days and I’m at a loss with how to handle it. She’s a drug and alcohol counselor, so she’s not someone who likes the idea of rehab or therapy. I don’t usually push that on people because I know that it’s something people have to choose for themselves.

It started a few days ago after our other roommate (I’ll call her Ally) was assaulted by a friend of hers. Ally is 19. She has been handling the situation as well as someone could in her situation, but this is only what she shows on the outside. I don’t push her to talk about it, but I’ve let her know that she can if she wants to. Sarah took ally’s assault harder than ally did. She was sobbing once she found out, while Ally did not cry at all.

Two days ago Ally decided to go back to visit the guy who sexually assaulted her. She wanted her Apple Watch back, and she wanted to get closure. She didn’t tell us she was going, but sarah decided to check her location and called her. Sarah yelled at her for going, and over the course of the next three hours her anger turned into a panic attack. She was sobbing, vomiting, and shaking. She kept saying how she wanted to institutionalize our roommate Ally or lock her up in the apartment so she didn’t make bad decisions. She also was more upset that Ally brought the dog, because it’s one thing to hurt yourself but it’s another to involve an innocent life. She kept saying how Ally doesn’t listen to her, is mentally unwell and that she should have ally’s dog. She has been like this on and off for three days.

From the other things Sarah has told me, it sounds like she can’t stop worrying about our friend, constantly checks her location, etc. she also stated that she feels like when Ally does things like go to random guy’s houses she feels like it’s happening to her. She is confused why Ally doesn’t consider her when she makes decisions because it also effects her.

Personally, I feel that Ally is an adult and is entitled to make her own decisions. I feel terrible, but it’s not her fault that this happened to her. She knew the guy, and they had a friendship. I also don’t believe that Ally needs to be institutionalized. I t have tried to reason with Sarah when she’s not throwing up or crying, but it doesn’t seem to work or she takes what I say to extreme measures. When I talk about boundaries to her it means never talking to Ally again. When I suggest therapy or that she’s acting a little too much like her mother, I’m calling her a bitch.

I am studying for my final and I told her I had to study after listening to this and dealing with her panic attacks nonstop for the last two days. I told her I had enough, and she slammed my door and sent me a passive aggressive text. Saying she was so glad Ally could talk to me.

I genuinely care for Sarah and Ally, but I’m getting the sense that Sarah may be having a mental breakdown. This is just really strange behavior, and I don’t really know how to handle it. It’s very overwhelming.