This doesn't seem like a fair characterization at all. Any other path towards borrowing money could potentially lead to getting buried even further in debt, and

This doesn't seem like a fair characterization at all. Any other path towards borrowing money could potentially lead to getting buried even further in debt, and if an exhorbitant amount of interest is charged, could lead to a debt spiral that's really hard to get out of. On the other hand, asking for money from a close friend means 0% interest, and an implied forgiveness in case it's not able to get repaid. That sounds like a much better option to me (of course, depends heavily on your relationship with your friends, etc.).