could anyone help with a diagnosis?

[DifferentDifference2572]

Dear Reader,

I posted on a different forum and i was told this one could help more with a diagnosis on my little cousin anywaayyyy...

I have a 16 year old cousin she is very close to me, I am extremely worried about her, her behavior seems out of the ordinary at times one thing she told me that she dreams about zombies all the time that's less of the worry's that i'm carrying about her but the major ones in reality is that she stays quiet when shes being spoken to and when i look at her she seems quite teary and when she does talk she comes out with really weird stuff but it is really funny no one would think of it to be honest and also if you **** her off she will throw anything close to her at you no matter how much the pain will cause.
She seems to want to spend time on her own and sit in complete silence she smokes quite a bit she scratches herself and asked me ''do i ever feel like there are little insects crawling on your body'' also she doesn't sleep she does but every other night or so and in the mornings she seems very energetic.

She often laughs or smiles for no reason and i know she doesn't hear voices and she can never be bothered to take care of herself e.g full showers she'll only be bothered to do that like once a month she'll just wash her hair over the bath she used to self harm don't know if she has done it recently but when i saw her one shocking evening she told me she has to see blood if she doesn't she said she feels kind of stress and weird and her arm was drenched with blood it was traumatizing to see, she never cares how she looks and she always tries to avoid help or avoid letting people know how shes truly feeling. She gets quite violent sometimes really violent  shes not usually the violent type at times shes very relaxed but only for a certain amount of time i've said to her before maybe you should go to a doctor and she refuses and she really wont go not even if she was paid £10,000,000 she said :(

[Peter Forster]

I am sorry that you did not get a reply earlier. Actually I posted a reply to this many days ago but it seemed to disappear into the ether... Which has happened to several posts in the last two weeks....
I am going to take a different tack this time, though, and wonder why it is that your cousin is not getting the help that she obviously needs. In particular, I wonder why her parents aren't taking her to see a doctor. I understand that she doesn't want to go, but that is actually not a decision that you get to make for yourself until you are an adult.
I would love to know a bit more about that, because the question of differential diagnosis is not nearly as important as the very plain fact that she needs help from a good psychiatrist quite urgently.

[lindahand]

You may be able to force her to get assessed if she is self harming because she would be considered a danger to herself. BUT chances of her sticking with treatment is unlikely and you would lose your bond with her so only do that if you have to.

Would she be willing to come on boards like this one or there are others on google and talk about her experiences? Maybe if she connects to others who are getting helped by treatment she'll be more inclined to get help herself.

Because there are things like dialectic behaviour therapy that have helped some of the people I know with their cutting. It is a very hard thing to stop. In many ways it is like an addiction. Endorphines are release when she cuts herself so she gets a temporary high. If she hasn't gotten help - she's probably cutting but hiding it better.

You must be so frustrated but there is nothing you can do until she reaches out for help. If she tells you she is suicidal ask her if she has a plan. If she shares with you her plan, take her to the emergency room. If she won't go you can call the cops and they will take her there. She will likely hate you, but she will be alive.