Such a horrible loss. The rumors say it was depression; I am also suffering from clinical depression, and fortunately got some medical help in time.

Glad you got some medical help. I hope you’re feeling better these days.

Did it help?

Help has such a broad range of meanings here. It can mean anything from achieving what you want to and living a happy life (unlikely) to avoiding killing yourself (likely).

Most prognoses for depression look more like "can you cope with feeling like this for the rest of your life?" vs. "we will cure you". The latter is, of course, possible, though generally there is a problem. Many people have chronic depression, and it generally takes a long time and a lot of therapist effort to "cure depression" unless you are lucky, so there aren't really the resources to fix the problem for most people in the world. Usually at best we can learn to cope with it, especially if it has origins in early trauma.

I am alive.

Are you happy or each day is a struggle?

Such a loss, he was a talented person. I always checked in on his site from time to time to see if there were any updates on his tooling or what he was using it for.

RIP

May he rest in peace.

I was excited to see what he did later in life. I don't like equating a person with their professional output, but this post shows a level of creativity and vigor that is extremely rare. I'm sure it was apparent in other aspects of his life. I imagine his friends and family cherished him.

Not to be confrontational or point fingers to anyone specific, but in general, it would be more helpful that acquaintances, instead of concern/react to the tragedy of the death, would instead concern/react to the tragedy of the preceding depression.

Why, though?

Why?

To help/encourage depressed people finding quality help - so the worst outcome (suicide) doesn't happen.

I don't really understand how that is related to your suggestion. Why would it encourage that?

...?

(Absurdity check: we're both talking of suicide prevention, right?)

I really don't know how to best answer you - so I recruited some help:

"Catching the early signs of someone struggling—like pulling back from activities or expressing a sense of hopelessness—can be key. It’s about noticing changes and gently encouraging a conversation or professional help."

"Sometimes people just don’t know where to start with getting help. If we can proactively share resources, like info on good therapists or support groups with someone in need, it can be a nudge in the right direction."

Assuming you believe psychology/psychotherapy has scientific merit, that is.