Decline in Mental Ability in a Young Person

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I'm concerned about a friend. She gave up work, voluntarily resigning, a few years ago. No job to go to and has not worked since then but gets supported by her parents and has a small amount of rental income. Furtunately has been given a mortgage fee property, but out of choice lives hundreds of miles away from the rest of her family.

This is someone who is clever and has a university degree and who is only 40 years old, but is descending into agoraphobia and becoming severely anti-social. This has been going on for a few years, not just due to lockdown. Obsessed with food and not eating fat and has become quite thin (though not anorexic level). One other friend, whom, like me, she doesn't see any more. All other friends have been dropped.

I try to keep in touch, as we were very close at one time. But recently I've noticed that her texts are quite ungramnatical and contain a lot of uncharacteristic spelling errors. She resists all interventions/help.

There's nothing I can do, realistically, but personally, I just find it hard to sit back and watch someone decline like this. Anyone experience similar and hiw did you deal with it?

OP do you have any contact with her parents? There may be stuff going on that you aren't aware of. Also do you know the other remaining friend?

Sounds very sad and so many reasons could be behind it. I would very much hope that if there's some kind of serious breakdown going on that they are managing, her family would have reached out to her friends so you could support her.

The other remaining friend has mostly given up in exasperation. I guess I've stayed in touch because I've known her since we were teenagers and we come from the same village and now, by chance, live in the same large city hundreds of miles away.

I don't feel I can get in touch with her family. I know them a little, but I'm pretty sure they know the situation and cant/won't do anything. Her mother is dead and her father has remarried and has a new family now. Funnily enough, her brother, who lives in a completely different part of the country, is much the same. I also think she might see it as a breach of trust.

If she's restricting her diet too severely, that could potentially cause a decline in mental acuity.

Did she begin to isolate more after her mother's death or her father's remarriage? She may be suffering from some level of depression.

Practically speaking, I'm not sure there's much you can do, if she resists intervention and you don't feel you can contact her family.

She's always been self admittedly "anti-social", but I was, shocked when she have up her job and then told me she maybe dudnt leave the house for 5 days at a time. But then almost aggressively stating she saw no problems with that.

There are just so many things now that she can no longer do eg going to the gym or going out running. Can be very critical of other people. Shes not anorexic, it's more that she has nothing else to think about all day but her energy needs are very low so she eats very little to avoid gaining weight.

She's worse since her mother passed away, but that might be because she has the big flat to hide away in now.

Realistically, there's nothing I can do. It's just sad to see (from a distance). She doesnt seem at all happy and seems all too aware of her issues and perhaps a bit ashamed. But resists nearly all contact.