I've read this whole story, and my heart goes out to his family - especially his mother. I don't think they should have sold the house out from under him if they could afford to keep it. I think the mom's instincts to keep providing food and money and to find meaning in what he said were correct.

Parts of this story remind me of my own struggles to help my son. I really think you have to make some kind of peace with the idea that there's only so much you can do. You just have to be there and ready to step in if you see an opening. With him gone, they can't do that. And you have to maintain trust and an open line of communication. Police, handcuffs, and lengthy involuntary hospitalizations run counter to that.

There's no formula for how to deal with these things. And when they happen you don't really know what to do. There's this long learning curve. And frankly not all mentally ill people are the same. What one would find intrusive, another would find helpful.

That's just a really, really sad story with no easy answers.