cutting help?

Question

my friend has a problem with cutting herself. what can i do to help her without telling her parents and getting her in trouble..?

Answer 1

Your friend will not be in trouble - not at all - do not think for a second she will be.

She needs help, real help. Your a great mate but she needs someone to talk to and help her through this, in the form of a proffessional.

There could be many reasons she is doing this and it has to stop. You have to d her a favour and tell her parents or the school or the police (no she wont be in trouble they could help her find the right person to deal with this) just anyone - tell anyone so that somehting can be done.

Today, now, not tomorrow, not "I'll think about it" If you care for your friend at all you will help her by telling someone. She will tahnk you in the long run. Know in the meantime that you are doing the right thing, and you could even be saving her life.
Now is not the time to be worried about if she will be mad at you or if she will still like you afterwards, this is her life and it is a mental illness which can be easily treated, but she needs the right person to treat it.

Dont be a hero, you cant help her, tell someone who can,.

Good luck

Answer 2

This is not a matter of her getting in "trouble". This is a matter of you caring for her and her getting the help she needs. Perhaps it would be best for her or you to go to the School Counselor first and that way if her parents do not get her treatment then that will be something the school counselor can address. Cutting is not for attention nor a threat of suicide as some will claim. The problem is very serious and has become her very unhealthy coping mechanism. She needs help now and the longer it goes on the worse it becomes. If you do not think or have any concerns about her parents then you need to find an adult that you know mutually that you can trust. It is a very difficult decision in confronting her and would probably be best for the adult to do this. Your a great friend for caring. I wish you both the best~

Answer 3

Encourage her to see a school councellor to deal with what is triggering the cutting. Depending on the level of seriousness of the cutting you may need to tell her parents. If it's not doing a lot of damage, then a councellor can probably help her through. If she's been doing it a while and/or is doing serious damage, she needs to see a proper psychologist for help, and only her parents can get her that help. Make sure for her sake that she doesn't get involved with whoever she sees in a "no-hurt" contract as these can actually make cutting worse as they don't typicially provide an alternate behaviour. Also have her check out this site: http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/self.html#match

Answer 4

CUTTING IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE OUTLET FOR FEELINGS AND ANGER. It is a problem, opening your skin can make you vulnerable to infection. And mentally it isn't good, she lacks love and respect for herself if she can hurt herself like that. Telling her parents may be your only option, she needs more help than you can give her. Maybe you could tell a guidance counselor at school that your having this problem and he/she could call her parents and keep your name out of it. That way youre not the one causing her to get in trouble by telling her parents, but she can receive the help she needs. In the meantime talk to her about how bad this is, how its not an acceptable way of dealing with her feelings and try to convince her to talk to someone herself, if that doesn't work, make sure the message gets to her parents or someone who cares for her. Please don't let this go any further she will carry these scars for the rest of her life, if you help her she will only thank you down the road.

Answer 5

Unfortunately there is not much you can do but encourage her to seek professional counseling. Encourage her to seek counseling from school, anywhere. I know you don't want to tell her parents but if she does not seek counseling then someone has to tell them. This will become more and more serious as time passes. She has some issues she needs to work on and resolve and this issue will not go away by itself. If you care about your friend, help her, even if she does get upset or angry with you. It is for her own good and you might even save her life. There have been several instances of people that start off cutting themselves that end up committing suicide. This is not a game, talk seriously with her about seeking professional help, if she doesn't tell the parents. CUTTING IS NOT NORMAL, IT IS NOT A WAY TO "VENT" YOUR EMOTIONS OR FEELINGS. TALKING IS THE WAY YOU SOLVE AND WORK THROUGH YOUR PROBLEMS. PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THE RESPONSES TO YOUR QUESTION WHEN THEY SAY THIS IS NORMAL AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT, OR NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, BECAUSE IT IS SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT AND IT IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH DOING IT!!!

Answer 6

its a mental problem. usually they feel they are unworthy of life and need to be punished. so the punish themselves. They are going to need medicine soon. Its basically waves of uncontrollable extreme depression that tend to get worse if nothing is done about it. Hurry up and tell her damn parents to call a shrink before she commits suicide. It WILL happen. This is beyond your control. Unless of course, she is some insecure 8th grade girl who cuts herself just to tell her friends how bipolarly cool she is. If this is the case, tell her she is the stupidest person you have and will ever meet.

Answer 7

You must tell her parents. She's obviously overwhelmed and very sad, and she needs an adult to intervene and get her to the doctor. They can't help her if they don't know, and there are lots of resources available to your friend, but since she's a minor it has to be done through her parents. If her parents are abusive or you're totally against telling them, then tell the school counselor instead.

Answer 8

First of all read this. It is my story and I think it will make you understand why she does what she does.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/138552/confessions_of_a_cutter.html

Secondly, the parents need to know but how you tell them is a big deal. Maybe try telling your parents first or call a local psychiatrist.

Answer 9

i think you should try and talk to her about getting with her parents or talking to a counelor. cutters are good people like everyone else. but there is something underlying there and the sad part is your friend may not even know what it is herself. if you care about her, get her to talk to someone, anyone, and get to the underlying source of this depression to make sure it doesnt get worse.

Answer 10

tell her to stop if it's deep but if it's not something that will kill her, just tell her parents so they can get her help.
Like i said, if its not really serious, wait a few months and see if the phase passes.