Abandonment Issues

Abandonment Issues is a mission in Grand Theft Auto V. This mission is the last therapy session between Michael De Santa and Isiah Friedlander.

Overview
Abandonment Issues is unlocked after the missions Legal Trouble and The Bureau Raid are completed, Dr. Friedlander will not call this time, an icon will simple appear over his office. This mission can be completed at any time, even after the storyline is finished.

Description
At the beginning of the session, Dr. Friedlander asks Michael what does he want, to which Michael respond that he wants to be happy with his family, but also want to continue his life of crime. Isiah then asks what's the source of conflict this time and Michael's response will depend of the last mission that the player did before the session:
 * The Bureau Raid and Legal Trouble - Michael says that is hard to keep track of who wnats to kill him at any given moment, he says that Trevor still wants to kill him, but they are playing nice now because they are working in a project, he also says that the FIB wants him dead because he is no longer useful and Devin Weston also wants him dead for not helping him with the studio. But he says that his family is also back, so things are not that bad. Dr. Friedlander says that family is important, but Michael need to be sure that he wants then there for the right reasons.
 * Something Sensible or The Third Way - Michael says that things have been pretty good for him, he made a bunch of money and most of the people who want him dead, are gone. He says that his life is still a mess, but he is now hopeful. Dr. Friedlander says that hope is the enemy of hard work.

Isiah than asks if Michael have anything else that he wants to tell him, Michael response will depend of the player's actions in the game, sometimes Michael will say that he feels like two different people and that he doesn't like neither of them, he can also say that he hurts other people without thinking and then feels bad about what he did, and other times he might say that he killed someone on the way to the clinic and that he is a sick hypocrite. Regardless of what Michael will say, Dr. Friedlander will give an advice that the player can accept or reject.
 * Reject Advice - Michael says that it was a fucked up, but he is still a good guy underneath.
 * Accept Advice - Michael says that he really wants to be good, but then he gets angry.

Dr. Friedlander then asks Michael about his sexual behavior, again Michael response depends on the player's actions, he may say that he had thoughts but didn't have any problems or he may say that he has been a good boy and didn't have any problems at all.

Michael says that he made progress in some areas while none in others and Isiah says that he never heard such barrage of denial, self-justification and outright horror. But then Dr. Friedlander picks a camera, take a photo with Michael and reveals that he can't treat him anymore, because he is leaving Los Santos. Isiah says that he is getting a TV show and now he is going to be famous. Michael confronts him about this, and Isiah leaves the office saying that Michael does not need to be concerned, because he is not using real names in his show.

Out of the office, Isiah will enter in his car and the player will have the option of either kill him, or let him go away.


 * Kill Him - Dr. Friedlander will drop $2023 and an internet news article will confirm his death.
 * Leave Him - The internet news article mentioning his death will still appear, however, after some time, Friedlander will send Michael an e-mail, saying that they both should forget what happened and move forward.

Los Santos Meteor Newspaper
"Dr. Isiah Friedlander, radio host and author who rose to prominence recently, was killed yesterday in a murder police are calling 'suspicious'. Dr. Friedlander who recently won great fame thanks to his bestseller anout his relationship with an idiotic, if terrifying and amusingly deluded sociopath and apparently retired bank robber he code names Marky De Santos. No one has yet identified the real Mr. De Santos and people are unsure even if he is alive. Only last week, Dr. Friedlander spoke to an audience about the futility of trying to work with the criminally insane and deluded. He argued that some people are truly beyond help. It seems that someone certainly wanted their money back, although whether it was for the book or the treatment remains very unclear."

Trivia

 * Dialogues of this mission where used in Michael's Character Trailer.
 * Michael will comment about him and Trevor working together, even if the player completes this mission before The Wrap Up mission.
 * The fact that the article about Friedlander's death appears regardless of the player's choice, could mean that Michael killing Friedlander is the canon choice, or a simple oversight in the game.