CarrieP

Thank you all for the thoughtful and varied responses and the archived thread.

I feel I should explain a little bit more. I wrote my original post literally running out the door to go visit this friend, and was looking for as much information as possible to help the person. Thus, my original post was somewhat rushed.

I agree that physical exercise cannot substitute for therapy, especially when a person's problems are severe. I didn't mean to phrase my question to indicate that I thought martial arts was equivalent to psychotherapy or treatment with drugs. If someone is serously ill, this can be a dangerous premise.

However, as one element of a multi-faceted approach, I think it can be beneficial.

My friend is a very self-reliant type, and has aversions to therapy for very legitimate reasons. My initial, and continued, approach is to try to convince my friend that therapy is the best option, and necessary.

Of course, this is me as armchair psychologist speaking, and not a qualified professional. But I think I've got a fair enough grasp on the basics of psychology and the psyche of my friend to know that my friend needs more help than me or any layperson can give right now.

Ultimately I cannot make my friend do anything, which as any of you know who have friends who have had self-destructive behaviors of any sort, is frustrating as hell.

However, in my mind, the more information I arm myself with, and the more varied it is, the better chance I have of helping my friend.

The post was written in that spirit.

I appreciate everyone's concern and sensitivity towards the situation. This is a good group of people here.