Assessment of family interaction with a schizophrenic member

I feel empty, a bit of a failure. It’s hard to get the energy to do much. I spend a lot of time at home. My folks don’t like me hanging out, [they] get on my back to do more, and that makes me feel worse. (A young schizophrenic man in an interview with the author.) He seems so sad, lonely ... we try to encourage him to get out, but he just gets so angry. I feel I have lost him, lost contact ... it’s hard to know how to get through. (The young man’s mother in a separate interview.)