Poor thing, I have similar anxiety about showering in bathrooms with no natural light, or that have extractor fans. When I lived in a flat with a bathroom like that for a year and a half I had to shower with the bathroom door open (luckily I lived alone :P). Maybe suggest she go to the campus health service and see if they have counsellors who could help her with that?

I understand that she's scared, but that's honestly disgusting.

To be fair, to stay inside during a fire drill or alarm is a felony on college campuses, and firefighters will check and normal people don't have time to get dressed before being forced to stand out in the usually far too cold climate for that bullshit. This is an overreaction but I can at least see the cause.

What a disgusting slob.

That's just nasty. I'm guessing she's also single.

To be fair, I kinda understand since there have been stories about that happening, whether on here, or other publications. However it's a small percentage.

I can sympathize with OP's roommate, but seriously, all those people saying OP should help her roommate through it - it is not her job to do that. She shouldn't have to invent ways to get her roommate to shower. One of my college roommates had anxiety and she would sleep all day and miss classes and that sucked for her, but we weren't friends, we were roommates and she wasn't my responsibility. OP needs to worry about school, not helping their roommate through their anxiety problems.

Due to a-hole dormmates setting off the fire alarms for fun, I've been caught in the shower too many times to count. Unfortunately there's just nothing you can do but turn off the water, pull on your towel, shorts, t-shirt, bathrobe, or whatever you have, and walk out. My dorm was fairly large so there was almost always a couple of people who had been showering any given time the alarm went off. The first time it was kind of embarrassing, but there was a sort of camaraderie about it. Every time after, people were too pissed to care about what everyone was or wasn't wearing. My advice, in the winter, bring more than just a towel to cover up in. To OP, I suggest talking with your roommate about it and getting an RA/CA involved if need be. It's not just for your convenience, but for your roommate's health as well. If you are friends, as opposed to just acquaintances, perhaps you can offer to be on hand with a large jacket and walk out with her if the alarm were to go off when she's showering. You may never actually have to, but the offer may help ease her mind.

You could always offer to be her fire alarm lookout, like stay in the room while she showers and promise her you'll knock on the door if it goes off ever. Anxiety sucks, and the only thing you can do is be a friend and understand that this is something she can't control.

That's terrible for you both! What if she wore her swimsuit or something and kept a bathrobe on hand too?

Suggest she get cleansing wipes? That sounds like a phobia.

So many people say they have anxiety. Bet you 75% of them is either self brought on anxiety, or just thinking they do so much so that they end up having one. Sad. I don't have any real anxiety. I have nervousness, and severe paranoia. Which makes it difficult to go outside. That's not my fault. I try to go outside. And every time I do. Some perv will stalk me, I'll get hollered at by passing cars, people trying to grab my ass, people trying to "give me a ride to my house", the gawking stares, rude comments, sexual comments, old men trying to hit on me. All of these crude things that shouldn't happen, that do happen. Make it difficult for me to leave my house. It's not an anxiety. It's just not wanting to deal with people. I get tired of it. Annoyed by it. Pissed off, and self conscious. Wish people would stop being so negative and inflicting the anxiety on themselves just to fit in. Seen so many people lie about it. Anxiety is serious. I have a normal amount of anxiety a person should have. People with crippling, it's hard for them, and just as hard for people around them. If you are going to say you have anxiety, make sure you have it 100% medically diagnosed. Going from experience with my boyfriends grandmother who has severe anxiety of being alone and not understanding something to the point it's put her in the hospital. It's not a laughing matter and affect both my boyfriend and I and everyone around his grandmother, constantly. We have to be wary of what we bring up, what we say, where we go, and everything else so that we don't set her off.