In this paper we study the diffusion approximation of a swarming model given
by a system of interacting Langevin equations with nonlinear friction. The
diffusion approximation requires the calculation of the drift and diffusion
coefficients that are given as averages of solutions to appropriate Poisson
equations. We present a new numerical method for computing these coefficients
that is based on the calculation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of a
Schr\"odinger operator. These theoretical results are supported by numerical
simulations showcasing the efficiency of the method