How do I reply to this? This is a message my best friend sent me today.

"read this!!!!! hunter whenever u get this....i love you...(not in the gay way) but as a brother...as the only one that cares...without you...i would do something really stupid to myself...but yeah...last night...i cut again...this time my wrist...i couldnt tell u earlier...but im sorry...please come home soon.."

***! I don't know what to do. Me and him are as close as friends can get. We are like brothers! There isn't a secret between us. I moved away about 2 months ago and we have both been real depressed since then. Ive been begging to move back and crying in front of my parents and they say that we will move back October 27th. But after reading that, I don't know if its soon enough

The best thing you can do honestly is to tell someone. This is extremely unhealthy for your friend, and I know you really are brothers, and sometimes you have to do things for the people you love that they won't understand. He might be mad at you, but if you really are that close you can't take the chance of him maybe taking his life. So the first thing you need to do is tell a parent/counselor/ a teacher even. The next best thing to do is to tell him you will be moving back. This will give him hope and therefore he will be counting down the days instead of cutting his arms. But in all honestly you need to get someone to help your friend, because even if you move back, something else might make him this way again and maybe next time you can't fix it, so you need to get help a.s.a.p.

This is a cry for HELP.
He needs help. Professional help.

How old is your friend? I'm not a professional counselor or have any degrees, but depression can sometimes be caused by low self-esteem which can be caused by having been picked on in school or being humiliated by parents. And if people are constantly being told they're not good enough by their parents, people can some times grow up repeating that message to themselves, making themselves believe that they are in fact not good enough. I'm probably total wrong, but it would be a good idea to just talk to him to see if any of the stuff I mentioned applies to him.

Also, if he wants to get help he can always go to see a therapist or counselor. There's also a pretty good book by Craig A. Miller called "When Feelings Don't Come Easy" if he wants to give that a chance. Here's a link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/When-Feelings-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1588515818/sr=8-1/qid=1161583916/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1142857-8155138?ie=UTF8. You can get a cheap copy for less than 10 bucks.

It might also be a good idea to have your friend take the test here: http://www.youthnetsouthampton.org.uk/breakout/lovelanguages.php.
You'll get a list of the 5 "love languages" and how important each is to us. Higher numbers indicate more importance. How will this help you help your friend? If his number one love language is "Quality Time" just try to hang out with him more. If his number one is "Words of Affirmation," tell him you care about him more often.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted.

I see two issues here -- suicidal references and cutting, which can be part or not part of any suicidal ideation. Cutting is almost like an addiction. Both are serious enough that it will take professional help to bring substantial relief. Please encourage your friend to hold on and seek help. It is not the shameful thing people make it out to be. Some of the brightest, most aware and sensitive people have trouble living in the world today partly because of how bright, how aware, how sensitive they are and they need to learn things family and friends cannot teach. I should know, I am seeking counseling myself these days (been a bunch of times before too) for very similar reasons!

If necessary, cut and paste from here and show him our answers. You are a good friend and he deserves a happier life.

Get on the phone with your friend... contact a relative... contact the hospital... talk to a professional... do you have a three way... keep this person on the phone... ask for a social worker and the social worker will get the necessary supports... this is scary... but needed... did you see earlier cuts were vertical or horizontal? This is a cry... but you are limited by what you can do... call and leave everything to the professional... get off the computer and talk to your friend... your friend needs now!