<human>: My best friend of 15 years started university in Bristol (UK) back in September, which is roughly 300 miles away from where we live. She hates it and is constantly telling me how bad it is, how she can't handle it etc.

She is incredibly intelligent and has already been awarded top marks for the only two assignments that have been set, so it's not that she thinks she is incapable. She says that the course is worse than she expected, and she also suffers from crippling anxiety. There have been times where she hasn't eaten anything besides cookies and packets of crisps for 4 days straight because she doesn't want to go into the kitchen, where her flatmates hang out, and cook herself dinner. She has constant panic attacks: one was so violent she thought it was a heart attack, but didn't tell anyone through fear of causing unnecessary panic.

Her flatmates ignore her and make no effort to communicate with her, being fully aware that she suffers with anxiety. They arrange to go out all the time, they're always having parties, they're arranging a flat Christmas meal, but they never ask her to join them. The whole group is even planning on moving to another apartment, and it wasn't until my friend saw the documents lying around that she found out. Her only friend dropped out of the university a few weeks back because she wasn't enjoying it either, so she is literally alone.

I, along with 4 other people (including her mum), have suggested that she drop out of uni and take a gap year, or if not, find another university to attend that's maybe closer to home, because after all, her mental and physical health are of the utmost importance - more so than a degree. She feels as though she can't drop out, because she won't get a degree and thus won't get a job. So, she is stuck in this cycle of having panic attacks, wanting to leave, realising that she can't leave. I don't know what to do. I care about her so much, and I know that I have to do something to help. I've just never seen her like this before.

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Can you give me a shortened version of the text?
<bot>: Best friend recently started university, suffers from anxiety and feels alone, but doesn't feel as though she can drop out. I want to find a way to help her.