I get the impression that this is a long, polite way of saying Steve committed suicide.
The last time I was on HN and the topic of suicide came up, I wrote kind of a ranty piece that I am not up to editing it (to remove the rantiness) and reposting. The short version: If you know someone who is suicidal and you care about them, spend time with them. In person. Suicide is almost always committed when one is alone.
My credentials: I attempted suicide at 17 and have been hospitalized once or twice for being suicidal in my teens/twenties. In recent years, when medical issues make me mentally and emotionally unstable, my adult sons "babysit" me (in other words, I am not left alone when I might be genuinely suicidal and not just grumpy about life's stressors). I am 48 and I am okay these days in spite of serious medical problems which have somatopsychic impacts (it's a real word -- look it up). So I know it is a method that works.
The last time I was on HN and the topic of suicide came up, I wrote kind of a ranty piece that I am not up to editing it (to remove the rantiness) and reposting. The short version: If you know someone who is suicidal and you care about them, spend time with them. In person. Suicide is almost always committed when one is alone.
My credentials: I attempted suicide at 17 and have been hospitalized once or twice for being suicidal in my teens/twenties. In recent years, when medical issues make me mentally and emotionally unstable, my adult sons "babysit" me (in other words, I am not left alone when I might be genuinely suicidal and not just grumpy about life's stressors). I am 48 and I am okay these days in spite of serious medical problems which have somatopsychic impacts (it's a real word -- look it up). So I know it is a method that works.