[itmeeverybody]

I have a friend, who has a big case of family problems. Her brother is abusive, her father disappears ever so often, and her mother "forces" her and her younger sister to sleep outside in the yard, every night. Her brother is only seventeen, but he's going through depression himself, due to cyber bullying. Her younger sister is like her, but is only 11, so she thinks of sleeping outside as games. My friend's house has only been like this for a year and a half, so she's fairly new to the whole "abusive house" concept. She's a fairly happy person, always smiling and laughing, but she's told me about how she cuts her legs every morning, right before taking a shower. I don't know if I should believe her or not, because it's hard to believe that someone so happy would hurt herself. She seeks attention a lot, and she's dating a guy in college - almost five years older than her. She told me not to tell anyone else about her cutting herself, especially not counselors, because she doesn't want anyone else to know, because she thinks they might tell someone who will call the social services, who'll separate her from her sister. She vents to me a lot (I'm like her venting friend) about her life. I'm an extremely cheerful person, so hearing about all these depressing things make me feel really... sad. I love my friend whole-heartily, but I don't want to turn depressed myself. I told my mom a few of the things that she told me, and my mom told me to stay away from her. She says she doesn't want me to hear more about drugs and cutting addictions. I would do that, but I don't want to leave my friend alone. I also don't want to lose my friend's trust. She told me not to tell a counselor, or tell anyone, but I don't want to just leave her there. I'm always afraid she's just lying to me about her cutting herself so that she can get attention (she just seems too happy to cut herself) But I'm also afraid that she may be telling me the truth. What can I do? How can I force her to stop without breaking her trust? I would a tell a counselor, but if it turns out she was lying, than I myself would feel hurt. This may make me seem selfish, but I'm still a teenager, I still want to live a teenager's life. I truly do care about my friend, and I want her to be safe. What can I do? Please help me.

[JudyKayTee]

If her father forces her to sleep outside someone - and that might be you or your parents - needs to call Child Protective Services. This is abusive. I'm amazed no one has reported it so far.

Cutting is a personal decision - you can't make anyone do anything.

She needs to find someone she can talk to - at school, a relative, at church.

[MikeBear]

Do you have a Social Services Department or offices in your area? If so, I would definitely report this. This cannot continue. You can help them by doing it, or reporting to the people in the other answer you got from JudyKayTee.
You would be doing them a BIG favor, and this is what friends are supposed to do... help each other.

[itmeeverybody]

Thank you guys for your answers. I didn't think of the problem to be... abusive. I think I know what I'm going to do now.