I think the biggest thing your friend needs to understand is that this problem will not go away until they pay the loans, and in fact will only get worse. Student loans are almost impossible to discharge in bankruptcy -- you basically have to show that you have no chance of ever getting a job that will allow you to pay them back, and it sounds like your friend is now in an employable field, so that's not going to happen.* In addition, the loan company is now adding on late fees every month, which are compounding as well. So the longer your friend avoids dealing with the situation, the worse it is going to get. They can even garnish your SS payments if you still owe money! The most important thing your friend can do is just get going.
*By way of example, my brother had debilitating anxiety and depression for a decade. He went to a lawyer to talk about bankruptcy as a way to discharge his @$50K in loans and was told that it wasn't worth filing, because as long as there was a chance he'd improve to the point where he could hold down even a minimum-wage job, the court was not going to discharge the loan debt.
