It sounds like your roommate actually woke you up by crying loudly enough and long enough to do so. This was really a cry for help on her part. You did the right thing.

Your roommate felt alone, as she stated, and wanted an intervention. People who feel extremely despondent often believe that only the threat of imminent suicide will convey the depth of their despair to others and elicit a meaningful response. It's too bad that you can't get admitted to a psych hospital without threatening to harm yourself, but that's about what it takes.

The rationale is out there that, if you are not an imminent danger to yourself (or others,) then you can get all the help you need on an outpatient basis. Often that boils down to seeing a counselor once a week - if you're lucky. For persons in dire emotional pain, that is just not adequate support. Too bad there isn't another good option.

I think the best any of us can do is to assure very depressed individuals that they don't have to be suicidal to deserve to have their pain taken seriously. Mental health experts tell us that what starts out as a suicide "gesture" can end up accidentally succeeding.