I have this junior associate who is very smart and hardworking. He graduated from a very prestigious law school and has a stellar resume. However, I’ve noticed that he is often alone during lunches and coffee breaks, and when we have group dinners or stuff he is very quiet. I think some of it has to do with the fact that he is an international person and esl speaker so I imagine it’s harder to make friends; I’ve gathered that his entire family is in China and he’s the only one here. I also got a feeling that they are not very close. For example, when I asked him if he would fly back and see family for the break he told me he prefers staying in the US.
But these past few days my mild worry turned into serious concern when we had a couple chats and he said he doesn’t really see the point of attending his very prestigious law school and sometimes he wishes things were different and there’s a lot of suffering in life etc. When I got concerned he told me he’s talking about other less fortunate people, but I’m pretty certain that’s bs and he’s consciously or subconsciously asking for help. You simply don’t talk like that about meaning of life and suffering to a person from work.
Now I’ve never dealt with this situation before. But I’m very worried that this is a kid who’s drowning and reaching out for one last help and if he doesn’t receive it bad things can happen. I’m especially worried because he has afaik no support network in the US. What’s the best way to help him without pushing him further away or making it known that he’s going through something?