Remember my affair with the Bipolar Bear? I haven’t heard from him since January, when he asked me for a lot of money. I told him I couldn’t help him but offered to get together and help him sort through his finances. He slammed down the receiver, and I haven’t heard from him since. Today I found out that he’s in the Psych Ward at SF General, has tried to commit suicide 4 or so times, lost his home, job, car, and all of his belongings, and at the time that he was committed was homeless on the streets of San Francisco. He’s undergoing electro-shock therapy. I didn’t know that they still did that.
“His problem.”
“Not your responsibility.”
“Manipulating you again.”
Our past conflicts stemmed from a total lack of concern for boundaries (It was an affair, first of all), and extreme manipulation on his part. If I get in touch with him, I know I can be firm about my own boundaries, but what can I do for him? What should I do? He has nothing and nobody. I can’t not do anything. Am I willing to befriend him and risk his dependence, further manipulation, or even his rejection?