For Families & Friends

Coping as the friend or family member of someone who self-injures can be difficult. The following resources and organisations offer some advice on how to help and support someone who self-harms, without neglecting your own needs.

For more information about self-harm and mental health problems, see our Info section and the Understanding why page.

Contents
Self-harm & suicide
Coping as a carer
Specific mental illnesses
Abuse
Support in the UK

Self-Harm & Suicide

Family and Friends (Self-Injury.net)
Help with thoughts and feelings you may have, and advice on dos and don’ts.

Help for Families and Friends (Secret Shame)
Some guidelines for dealing with self-injury in a friend or family member.

Self-Inflicted Violence: Helping Those Who Hurt Themselves
Article written by a clinical psychologist.

How to Help Someone Who Is Suicidal
Advice from the UK charity Mind.

Coping as a Carer

How to Cope as a Carer
Advice about handling difficult situations and ways of looking after yourself.

Setting Personal Boundaries
Some advice on how to set boundaries and protect yourself.

Carers Factsheet
Outlines the help and services that are available for carers of people with mental health problems in the UK.

Beacon of Hope
A collection of resources for people whose partners are diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

Codependents Anonymous
Codependence can be described as the strong tendency to take care of someone else in a way that interferes with their ability to be responsible for themselves. CoDA is a 12-step programme for people who struggle with this issue.

Specific Mental Illnesses

BPDRecovery.com
Discussion boards for those affected in any way by borderline personality disorder, whether suffering themselves, or in a relationship with someone who has BPD.

Depression Fallout
Message boards and chat room for the friends and families of those who suffer from depression.

The Significant Other’s Guide to Dissociative Identity Disorder
A wealth of information.

Bipolar Significant Others
An email list for the spouses, families, friends and other loved ones of those who suffer from bipolar disorder (manic depression).

How Families & Close Friends Can Help
This page is aimed at the families and friends of people with bipolar disorder, but a lot of the advice is also useful for any mental health issue where the sufferer is reluctant to admit they have a problem or seek help.

Abuse

Pandora’s Aquarium
Message board for survivors of sexual violence, with a section for “secondary survivors” (family and friends). Also includes links to information, advice and other sources of support.

Positive Partners of Survivors
Yahoo! group for partners of those who have been sexually abused.

Support in the UK

Carers UK
Provides details of organisations and support groups for carers throughout the UK.

Rethink Carer Support
Specialist services and groups for carers of people with severe mental illness.

Local Mind Associations
Mind is a UK mental health charity. Some of their local branches provide services for carers.

Al-Anon Family Groups
Support for anyone whose life is, or has been, affected by someone else’s drinking.

If you’d like to get counselling for yourself, see our NHS, Charities & Counselling and Going Private pages.