Can DS help his self-harming friend?

[OneHandFlapping]

DS said that a good uni friend has been suffering from anxiety, and is now cutting. She's apparently been to her GP twice and been "brushed off", and doesn't want to either contact the student counselling services, or tell her parents.

Is there anything he can do to help her?

The student counselling sounds a good idea, as GP's either recommend medication if have a diagnosis that it can help with such as depression or talking therapies. As students that tends to come under student counselling services. So if your ds can persuade her to book an appointment, that could be really helpful as professional help can help. She obviously wants help as has been to a gp (who sadly are probably used to self harm as a coping mechanism as it is not uncommon) and your ds knows.

If she has anxiety then learning some techniques to deal with anxiety could help. Ultimately there is usually a reason for being anxious (not always) such as exam stress - it is coming up to deadlines of essays/dissertations and exams, so learning how to deal with deadlines can be helpful.

If she really, really won't go to counselling/proper medical help, then CBT can be done as self-study, and breathing-relaxation exercises can be learned likewise. It'll be a stopgap until she gets to proper care, but better than nothing.

It also sounds as if she has a crap GP. Could she see someone else at the same surgery?

Thank you so much for your help. This is so far outside my experience. I will suggest to him that he tries to persuade her to go to the student counselling.

Of course she has gone home for the holidays now, but next term is exam term, so double the pressure. I'll also tell him about the self-study CBT, but I suppose the danger is that she will see it as a solution, and won't try the counselling.

GPs are crap when they can't give you a prescription for something, ime. He says that she's the sort of person who would easily be brushed off, and not make a fuss too. I suppose an anxiety disorder is not great for self confidence.

DO you think he should offer to go with her? I know he worries about his friends when they have problems, but I don't know if he knows where the line is between being supportive, and getting sucked in too far.

Hi just to say cbt is one of the NHS forms of counselling offered so doing it herself is fantastic as e NHS will teach how to do it - plus the waiting time to start such treatment on the NHS are such that doubt will get any through the go before exams finished. But student counselling services are used to issues and stresses of students and hopefully can offer an appointment sooner and may be contacted withi seeing them to book a face to face appointment? Whereas a gp would want to see a patient usually.

Sorry cbt is the solution or rather a technique used for people, to manage their own thoughts.