Not sure what to do

There’s a sixteen-year old attending my university full-time for a rather strenuous major (involves heavy doses of math and science). He was homeschooled all of his life, making him a bit of an introvert. He’s also really interested in comics, gaming (tabletop for sure, but sure about other types), and technical things (can do complex calculations IN HIS HEAD). Bottom line: this kid is a nerd and incredibly smart. However, he only counts two people on-campus as friends—me and a resident student who lives two hours away from the university.

Now that the background is out of the way, here’s the main part. We go back to college this coming Monday, and a few classmates of mine have been texting back-and-Firth about the upcoming semester, including this kid. Unlike other conversations via text, talking to this kid is EXHAUSTING because he texts VERY quickly and changes topics constantly. However, the conversation yielded that he basically shut down due to the high workload (so much so that he had to be medicated) and because he was overdoing himself to ensure that he had a friend: me (his own words). The problem is that he self-deprecated so much that nothing I could say could quell it, along with the conversation moving so quickly that I could barely keep up. Along with other topics (including orientation), I found that he’s depressed, overwhelmed, and lonely.

While I’d like to be a friend (which I really think he needs), I’m a loner, especially when it comes to studies. The only major socializing I do on-campus is with my SO (mostly to keep our sanity). Frankly, I feel overwhelmed with my classwork and mental health, my SO’s classwork and mental health (every he does/goes through, I take personally whether I want to or not), and general other concerns that the thought of watching out for this child and helping in all the ways he needs (which is how I am with friends) panic-inducing.

What do I do? I want to help, but I can barely handle what I have now, and I don’t want to add to it. I have so much I want to teach this kid (from personal experience), but I can barely talk at times and couldn’t get a word in edgewise if I paused for breath.

I am so sorry this turned out to be so long. I am at my wit’s end.