— December 31, 2013 —
I have a really big problem. I used to have this friend at school who was depressed and cut herself. As soon as I learned about this, I distanced myself from her. My best friend became her best friend after I left the school and we didn't talk for about 4 months. Then, we talked again and my friend told me that the girl who cut herself sent her pictures of herself cutting and crying and told her that it was her fault, and threatened that if she wasn't her friend that she would kill herself. This scared my friend a lot and she started feeling depressed too. I told her the best thing she could do is talk to her mom about talking to the girl's parents, but she won't listen because she's scared she'll destroy her life and she comes up to me with excuses that the girl told her she has stopped cutting for about 2 months already. The girl's parents don't know she does this. Meanwhile, my friend still wants to continue the friendship in hopes that everything will get better, and for now she just wants to forget what happened. But I am really concerned that this may be still happening, or that it is still hurting my friend because I really care about her. What should I advise her? What should I do? I know that maybe 2 lives are at stake here and I really want to help in the best and most mature way I can.
— Melanie, 13