For what it's worth, this friend (I'll call him Jon) has Asperger's.
The problems
Lately, Jon's life has been a rollercoaster of emotions. It all started when his mom (I'll call her Jane), after suffering 10 years of all kinds of abuse, tried to report her wife and she discovered it, so she left with the two small kids, all of the money and falsely reported Jane for child abuse.
Now this is a very serious matter and Jon, who didn't know what his mom was going through (he lives with his father) didn't take it so well. He started acting erratically, skipping classes in uni and having social anxiety symptoms. He told me that his relationship with his girlfriend was deteriorating in every way up until the point that she dumped him.
Because of this, he stopped going out with the main group of friends we both have, because his ex belongs in this group too and he didn't want to make everyone uncomfortable. He now evades places she might be on and goes out only when she's not coming.
Now it's exam period and he's already skipped one, I think he does not have enough confidence to take them and he's avoiding anything that might be hurtful for him, such as failing and dissapointing his mom.
My goal
I am very concerned about Jon's well being. All of this happened in three to four months and his state has decayed rapidly. He has started going to a psychiatrist and taking antidepressants. I want to address several things:
I want to support him the best way possible without being too intrusive. I've been trying to hang out with him, just the two of us and get him to talk about his feelings or trying to distract him doing something interesting such as watching a movie that he likes, but I feel it's not enough to cheer him up.
I want to correct his behavior about skipping classes and eviting places just because "he doesn't want to be an obstacle". I think that is self-damaging and he's digging himself into a hole.
I want to be prepared for the outcome of the incoming trial between Jane and her wife. To be honest, I think Jane is going to lose because she's not the biological mother of the kids and has little proof of the abuse. This will probably lead to Jane being left unemployed, vanished from her home and having to pay for the kids nutrition which I fear will be devastating for Jon.