DON'T CLICK AWAY! Please read through and post what you honestly think. I need serious help here. My cousin who I haven't known for a while but knows I'm gay recently told me 1) she's depressed and cutting herself, and 2) she doesn't have/want friends. Since then we haven't talked at all, she hasn't really acknowledged my presence. I'm just so worried, I want to help but I don't know how. She wouldn't say what the problem was, she said she was going to the school psychologist ("I knew my brain well enough to know what to do") but I'm assuming I'm the only person besides that who knows what's going on. She said she's not suicidal, although she's at that stage where she's pondering it even though she "knows there are better options." I don't want her to go down that road. I'm so afraid, and I have no idea how to help or what to say--if I text her, she'll say something like, "I'm fine," "I told you I don't want friends," "I have it under control," or she won't respond at all. I have no classes with her, and I can't really just find her during a free period and confront her about it. She literally has no one. How do I even let her know I'm here? I'm so afraid for her. Please help.
I'm afraid you can't force someone to talk if they don't want to, in fact, you'll probably find them less likely to talk if you try to pursue them. Do reassure her that you are around and willing to listen if she wants to talk and maybe text from time to time to say that you are thinking about her, but don't push too hard. Sometimes we need to be more subtle and gentle to gain another persons confidence.
