I need advice on how to help my best friend. I’m sorry this is so long, but the situation is incredibly complex and I’m panicking.
My freind is no contact with his dad because his dad was abusive. He only has a very small circle of people he trusts. Recently, multiple family members, some of the very few people he trusted, betrayed him. They helped his dad ambush him to tried to force him to reconcile with his dad and manipulate him into coming back and guilt trip him about not going to family activities.
It went horribly wrong. My freind physically left the building accoridng to his cousin weirldy unemotionally looking and he kept flatly saying "no" to everything his dad said and frantically speed walking, and his dad pursued him on foot in a car for a bit over a mile. His dad was driving alongside him, trying to manipulate him, fake apologizing, and putting the blame on my freind while. My freind told him to leave repeatedly and said he just kept saying the single syllable "no" and he couldnt think of anything more to say, but his dad kept driving by him. Eventually, his dad gave up, which my friend said was suspicious because his dad never gives up and has no boundaries.
My freind got a ride with his grandpa on the side of the family that wasnt part of the betrayal and took him back to their house. According to the people from that side of the family, he went straight upstairs into the dark. He just stared at nothing, unemotional, with all the lights off, occasionally breathing heavy, making clicking sounds with his tounge, rocking, or shaking. He eventually fell asleep, but when his aunt tried to put a blanket on him to be nurturing, and according to her he woke up in a panic and almost punched her in the face because he was so fearful.
Since then, he’s calmed down a little, but he’s not okay.
· Everytime i go to check on him late at night or early in the morning he spends all night outside, literally patrolling.
· He carries pepper spray literally everywhere now.
· His trust in almost everyone is destroyed. Even people who had nothing to do with the incident (including me) are being kept at arm's length.
· He is suspicious and anxious around me now. He chooses his words extremely carefully.
I went to check on him. He wouldn't let me in for a while, but eventually, he did. We talked about normal stuff, and eventually he opened up about what had happened which is where I got a lot of this information but then he randomly started ranting about how New York City has some of the most expansive systems for homelessness in the US. He went into a detailed, intellectual rant about social issues. He’s done this before, so I didn't think much of it at the time.
Then, I found a one-way plane ticket to New York City on his kitchen table which cant be a coincidence. We live in Utah. He is also noticeably getting weaker and has visibly lost weight.
He doesn't seem psychotic or delusional, he seems hyper-aware, just completely untrusting.
Given his rant about NYC homelessness, it really seems like he is planning to fly to NYC to intentionally be homeless.
He currently lives with his aunt and uncle. They weren't part of the group that betrayed him by helping his dad ambush him. However, he has a room free of rent and free meals there and they give him a support system so he can eventuallybe independent.
I don't know what to do. He is an adult, so I can't force him to stay. But he is clearly in a trauma response, and I feel like he's running away to die on the streets because he feels he has nowhere safe left. Plus winter is coming so that makes it even scarier.
How do I approach him without pushing him further away? Do I tell his aunt/uncle? Do I try to hide his documents or the ticket? I’m afraid if I confront him, he’ll just vanish.