text: what to do with a schizophrenic friend?? i have a friend who i've known since i was 14. i'm 26 now. a year ago he ended up in the psych ward at the hospital. all of his friends abandoned him, his father died when he was 9 and his mom has mental issues of her own. he lives in a tiny 1 room apt. now, no t.v, no radio, nothing except a bible. i run into him sometimes and feel guilty. i've visited him and called a few times, but i never know what to say. and now that i know he's been diagnosed as schizophrenic, my other friends tell me to just forget about him. but that's not me. what would you do?? personal experiance has tuaght me one thing seeing your friends go trhough a downward spiral is no easy task...but  first and foremost you need to ask yourslef a serious qeustion..   are you considering it to actually help him out, and i mean really help him out? or are you wanting to help your freind because you feel guilty about not helping him?   yes i am being serious...and yes they are two completely different things.... either you want to help him out becuase you feel as though you have a responsibillity as a person of society to help him with his ordeal, or you want to make yourself feel better, and get the moral dilema off your concious....  the reason this quesiton is important, is that it will do more damage to him if, when it gets difficult and time/money consuming (and it will), that you find that its not worth spending months/ years devoted to helping him trhough the ordeal, and fade out of his life.   if you have read this, thought about it, and really thought about it, and still have in mind to help him, i'd say just be the freind that you are, becuase a person who would be willing to do the above knowing the sacrifices one would have to make wouldn't need to do anything else to help your friend out in his hard times.